Standing On The Shore
by Lioness Rawr
Summary: AU Fic. A devastating but fortuitous event causing two people to become heavily reliant on one other to ensure that they survive.
1. Disorientation

First shot at writing, had some spare time on my hands and decided to give it a go.  
Reviews would be highly appreciated since I'm new at this writing _thing_.  
First part of what I hope to develop into a decent story.  
Enjoy.

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A cool and surprisingly chilly breeze envelopes her body, waking her to something she has no recollection of. There's a lag between her mind and her limbs, as her surroundings begin to make themselves present; she can feel heat radiating from the ground below her, hears a repetitive but therapeutic sound faintly in the background, where? She doesn't know.

As her body begins spilling into a conscious state, she can't help but wince at the dull throb reverberating through all her muscles, cannot comprehend why she's in so much pain. Parting dry, cracked and blood stained lips with her tongue; her body began to become more alert, heartbeat beginning to race, her thoughts being submerged by panic.

Finally taking the last step into reality, she opens her eyes to a brightness that could have blinded her had she not squinted – blurry vision slowly sharpens to reveal a clear azure sky, nothing more. Her neck is so stiff; it feels like she's breaking an invisible cast around her throat in order to drop her head to the side, can feel it crack painfully as her eyes adjust to the sight beside her.

Sand. Around her, beneath her, in between her fingers – everywhere. Her brows furrow and it makes her realise how tight and damaged her skin is, it feels stained somehow but more importantly, wounded. A wave of nausea hits her then, when the situation dawns on her; no memory of what happened, on a beach, in pain, the flavour of iron overwhelming her taste buds, the sun beating down at her relentlessly and it's too much. Her breathing becomes irrational; she's greedily inhaling the salty and pure oxygen in ways that pain her lungs, her muscles in tremors.

She knows she can't panic, cool and collected is what she does, and her body would be screaming for a cigarette if it weren't in so much agony. Shakily running her hands through knotted locks of platinum hair in an attempt to steady herself, she lifts herself up and leans back on her elbows, it's all she can manage for now. Though she couldn't say she was prepared for what she observes around her.

It would've been breathtakingly beautiful had there not been pieces of metal, seat remains, glass and other scraps of the aircraft scattered amongst the beach. It was all so juxtaposed, she had to make sure she wasn't having some kind of vivid dream, her brain being just as scrambled as her environment. It didn't make sense.

The sun is burning her, not just her pale and sensitive skin but all the cuts she knows she possesses, upon inspecting her body; she doesn't seem to find any fatal injuries. Vision is all she can trust at this very moment, since her feelings are caught up in a whirlwind of panic, desperation, agony and utter confusion. Slowly but surely, she begins to lift herself off the scorching sand, her legs wavering dangerously; standing upright feels so exhausting. She never realised just how many muscles your body requires to keep you on your feet until you feel them all aching and straining.

Once she manages to get comfortable with walking and suppressing her panicked state, she trawls through the wreckage. There is scrapheap from the plane everywhere, but the actual aircraft is nowhere to be seen, she noticed however, that the waves were bringing things in from the water. Pieces were coming together in her mind, agonizingly slowly. Her skin covered in dried salt, or is it sand? What did it matter anyway – whether she was somehow deposited from the water onto the beach of an unknown island or she flew from the skies and miraculously survived, the situation remains the same.

There is a missing gap in her memory, probably to do with the thumping pain on the side of her head she figures. Her plane crashed, that much is clear. Once her inner monologue repeat that fact, her legs begin to lose stability once more and the next thing she feels is herself sitting on the wet sand with her knees tucked in under her chin. Rocking back and forth slightly; attempting to stop the shaking she knew was imminent, her inability to recollect any recent memories of what happened only increases her anxiety. She decides it's best to start from the basics.

"Naomi" She mouths; her voice is missing too, scratchy and dry. Upon clearing her throat and attempting to moisten her lips, she repeats her name to herself.

"Eighteen. Capricorn. Gap Year. Charity. Fiji.." Holding her breath, images began pouring into her mind, an airport, her ridiculous suitcase and a ticket to Fiji. Stopped over at Melbourne and got on a small aircraft to finish her journey to Nadi. Fuck.

Before panic settles once again upon the realisation of her situation, she notices movement in her periphery vision. Her head turning at break-neck speed to investigate, probably due to the fact that adrenaline has been pumping through her body vigorously for a while now, but fuck it if she can see anything with the sun blaring down into her eyes. Whilst raising her arm to shield her vision from the light, a sharp pain jolts from her elbow and across her forearm and as concerned as she is for whatever injury she was bound to have obtained in the black hole of her memory – _ something_ is moving towards her.

A girl, a petite girl, taking fast paced strides up the beach – seemingly oblivious to Naomi's presence. At first she hopes that maybe this island had some kind of civilization, but as she squints to inspect further, the girls clothing is torn and there are marks on her face that mimicked the colour of her hair; scarlet red. The girl has her arms wrapped around herself, clearly comforting herself rather than preserving body heat.

Naomi rises to her feet, staggering and attempting to maintain her balance as though she's heavily intoxicated. The girl spots her then, stops dead in her tracks and begins running towards her with abandon.


	2. Realisation

As the girl gained proximity, Naomi noticed just how small and vulnerable looking she was. She felt nervous, meeting another person experiencing what she was meant everything was real, not to mention they'll probably tell her exactly what happened to the plane. She figured that she now found comfort in not being able to remember, ignorance is bliss and such.

Her train of thought was put to a halt when she heard ragged breathing beside her. She must've been in a little bubble of solitude for the past fifteen minutes, because hearing and seeing the presence of someone else felt odd, uncomfortable even. Though she couldn't blame the situation on this reaction to company, she's been like this every day of her life.

The girl was looking up at her, with a face of full panic and a slather of hope shining in her eyes. Her bright red hair was luminous in the suns rays; it was messy, damp and covered in sand – she wondered then, how she might look herself and whether she'd _want_ to know.

"Are you okay?" The redheads concern almost made Naomi jump; it was bizarre to hear another voice when all she's heard so far was her inner monologue and the waves hitting the beach amongst the wreck.

She couldn't possibly answer if she tried, she was okay in the sense of being alive but everything else was most certainly _not_ okay. She concluded that it was a pretty stupid question on the strangers' part, and whilst she'd have normally given a reply dripping with sarcasm, she just didn't have it in her – barely being able to speak as it was and that it wouldn't be a very nice thing to do to someone who actually looked like they _cared_.

A slight nod was given, alongside a wince at the growing pain on the side of her head; absentmindedly raising her hand up to her scalp she felt what was most likely to be dried blood over a seemingly small cut. The girl had been following her actions, staring at her temple, it shocked Naomi then – when she felt unusually soft fingers lift her chin and move her head to the side. The petite girl was inspecting the damage carefully and standing on her toes to get a good look.

"You must've really hit it hard," her fingers were tracing the cut cautiously and it's only then that Naomi actually _heard_ her, her mind was too wrapped around what was happening to process the red heads' words. She had a low tone, soothing and comforting in a husky way. She sounded so calm.

Naomi eyed her then, observed the girls face; her cheeks were stained with a mix of dried tears and blood, Naomi's gaze wandered to a split bottom lip that was going to struggle to heal by the looks of it. Amongst the frayed scarlet fringe, she noticed a similarly coloured wound around the arch of the girls' eyebrow with a trail of previously fresh blood outlining the curves of her delicate face. The cut was worth a few stitches and looked severely bruised already. She knew she possessed her own damages and hits, but actually witnessing those on someone else made everything concrete, unbearably so.

Naomi lost track of what happened then, her eyes began watering and the familiar trembling of her aching body returned. It wasn't long before a sob escaped her mouth and her salty tears stung unhealed cuts on her face. The rest of the cries were muffled and absorbed against the strangers shoulder. She would never consider herself someone who sought solace in other people, but right now, she was eternally grateful for the young woman holding her up during her meltdown.

It was silent, with the exception of the crashes of each wave beating the sand tenaciously – her throat and lungs burned too much to create sound as she sobbed. Subconsciously, she thanked the girl for not vocalizing any well-meaning but purposeless comforts like "it'll be okay," because it'd only cause her to breakdown further, realising just how far from _okay_ it was.

Once her breathing began returning to normal, she felt the warm, damp patch of tears on her own top indicating that the girl was just as distraught as herself, only quieter. In fact, she was quite amazed at the way the shorter girl managed to keep herself composed when everything was and is in tatters, her honest brown eyes revealed it though – exposed the raw and dismal panic within.

The two parted awkwardly and turned towards the ocean with a few sniffs and wiping of the eyes. It was impossibly blue, a palette of shades across the water, horizon and sky. It was endless, and had it been in another perspective – it'd be regarded as a pure wonder, but instead, it's a bleak desertion of everything they used to know.

The sun was beginning to hang low, transforming into a hazy but sharp orange hue, lighting up the sky in a series of watercolour-like strokes of pink, violet and darkening blue, accompanying the decreasing heat.

Naomi inhaled and exhaled deeply, taking the scene in. She wondered how something so beautiful could be part of the horrors that must have taken place, the ones she couldn't place. She couldn't push her ignorance much further though, she was a realist and running from this would be hypocritical, however hard it was.

"..What happened? The plane.. I don't remember." She whispered so lowly that she doubted the woman beside her heard, over the sound of the ocean in front of them. The girl hadn't moved or shifted her glance from the sky, and as Naomi opened her mouth to ask once more, she was silenced by a throaty sigh emanating from the red head.

After an extended silence, the girl turned towards Naomi and released her lips from her teeth, leaving them to tremble crookedly due to her cut.

"The storm, it.. it began moving towards the plane's path." Distress was covering the girls' features, goose bumps emerging over her skin – partly because of the steady drop in temperature and partly because of the memory.

"..rain was beginning to hit the plane so hard, people began to panic." She shut her eyes then, her forehead creasing in ways that were bound to be painful.

"Then the thunder hit, everything went black," her eyes opened, glistening with unshed tears and looking up at Naomi as if to question whether she's able to remember now. Naomi picked up on it and shook her head slightly, reaching up to her head, as if asking for her mind to just let her memory return.

After offering an understanding look with a near invisible nod, the young woman inhaled and turned her head back to the ocean before continuing. Her muscles now visibly shaking from the chill flowing through the salty air and Naomi felt an urge to warm her by rubbing her arms, but she was currently using all her energy to stand without faltering.

"After that, it was just a blur ..of screams, spinning and dropping," she shrugs lightly and wraps her arms around herself once more, "..then I woke up in my seat further down the beach."

"Oh," was all Naomi could say in return, it felt like pieces in her mind were falling into place but it was still very ambiguous. A comfortable silence blanketed them both whilst the sky slowly transformed into a delicate but deep purple, outlining small clouds hanging above them.

"We're here though, now, it is what it is, right?" The blonde offered with an uneasy smile that didn't quite reach her cheeks.

"I'm Emily, by the way" The shorter girl chimed, turning and looking up expectantly at azure eyes.

"Naomi." She replied simply, whilst glancing partially at Emily and the sun setting simultaneously behind the petite girl.

After wandering limply across the dimming beach together, they agreed on collapsing under a skewed palm tree to sleep, neither having the energy to find some place more suitable in case it rains.

They sprawl out on the warm sand and exhale a deep breath they didn't know they were holding. Both girls lay on their backs, only a foot or so away from one other and normally this would be too close for Naomi's comfort but she could barely function, which meant her conventions and way of life were put on hold. Both of their lives crashed with the plane.

The stars were clearer and more luminous than ever, glistening brightly in the vast nothings of the black sky. Eventually they began to fade, visions were blurring and breathing was becoming deep and steady.

"This is fucked," Naomi muttered as her head was spinning with the overwhelming amount of things she was feeling and thinking about. Eyes shut and burning in exhaustion, confining tears that threatened to roll down her face once again.

"Yeah." Emily sighed into the palm of her hand, covering half her face as she felt consciousness slip away from her swiftly, the pains of her body becoming lighter and fading away into the darkness.


	3. Debris

**Thank you all for the reviews so far, it's extremely encouraging. Especially since this is my first time writing and I've never really been too good at it, hearing from you motivates me to continue. Constructive criticism and suggestions are more than welcome; it's nice to know that you're enjoying the story. Hopefully, I can improve my writing ability as I go on which means it's a win-win situation. So, thanks again you guys.**

**Also, I tend to write during the night because I can never get to sleep but I'm still exhausted so if you find any mistakes they're all mine and don't be afraid to point them out! Sorry for the update delay, there was something wrong with the upload document feature on the site recently and it looks like the entire Skins fandom suffered a drought because of it.**

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She claws the arm rest of her seat and screws her eyes shut, the uneasy dropping motions of her stomach continuing to put her into shock as the plane nosedived. She can feel the wind blowing over her sweating skin as the aircraft begins to fall apart. The bottom is near, she's just waiting for the collision, and the hopelessness of the situation is like nothing she's ever felt before. Her entire body jolts at the impact.

The pain shoots through her nerves like an injection. She's choking on gulps of air, eyes still firmly shut but her hands begin to discover that she's no longer on the plane, the uneven dips of the sand beneath her prove so. Naomi exhales a sigh full of relief mixed with dread. She remembers now, remembers it far too well for her liking and had she known that this nightmare would creep up on her whilst she was unguarded and asleep – well, she would've done everything to stay awake.

As her surroundings sink in, the pain, thirst, hunger and constant fatigue does too. Her mouth is so dry that she doesn't even attempt to swallow and soothe her scratchy throat. She adjusts her eyes to the brightness and stretches her sore limbs in an attempt to shake off the pain from an uncomfortable sleep and an airplane crash.

"You're awake," Emily states more than asks behind her, in a voice that sounds just as parched as her mouth feels.

"Well—yea." Naomi isn't used to people being present when she wakes up, hence her automatic sarcastic retort, but feels a tinge of guilt when she can practically feel the small girl recoil behind her.

"Right..." The red head says in a dropped voice, settling on the sand beside Naomi and looking out to the beach, deciding not to speak further.

A moment passes between the two, the silence persistently filled by the ocean and the breeze lightly whistling its way around the girls.

"We should probably find something to eat or drink," Naomi airs, turning to the girl beside her whilst nodding towards the beginnings of some kind of rainforest.

"Yea—but I thought maybe we could walk up the beach and look for the plane, or something," Emily replies, looking slightly distraught at the idea of finding remains of something they were previously on.

Naomi analyses her for a moment, attempting to process their options and what she's just heard. Pieces of her mind begin to click and she notices how much the sleep has helped her think.

"Wait, didn't you say you woke up in your seat?"

Emily doesn't say anything for a little while, her eyebrows furrow and Naomi watches the dried blood crack on the surface of her skin, notices the grains of sand scattered in her hair. The girl begins to look uncomfortable, as though she was asked something personal, Naomi starts the surprisingly hard task of separating her lips to query but like before – the red head reacts just in time.

"I was still strapped in—the seat must've been completely ripped out," She inhales and looks away, her eyes watering then lightly closing.

"..There was a man—he…" her voice is thick with emotion; Naomi knows she is having trouble, that it probably feels like attempting to swallow a rock in your throat that refuses to move.

"He was dead, in front of me." Emily's head hangs and a lone tear can be seen falling to the sand, instantly causing a dark droplet to appear.

Naomi feels wave after wave of panic, dissolving the temporary calm and stability she'd created. She doesn't normally _do_ this type of thing, but consoling Emily was a distraction from her own worries and anxieties. Distraction was her forte, so she might as well apply it to the situation. Plus, Emily looked so fragile and small, with her knees tucked in and head hanging low, red hair falling over her face like a curtain; that she couldn't help but to offer comfort. Shifting awkwardly towards her, Naomi tentatively wrapped her bruised arm around the girls back, she almost sighed in relief when Emily leant into her – Naomi shouldn't be afraid of rejection at a time like this, but a tiger can't change its stripes.

It felt surreal, having hands grip around her firmly – searching for solace. It wasn't something she'd tolerate back at home but desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, from what she's gathered about the girl, she didn't seem too bad; no annoying small chat, not a complete sobbing mess and easy on the eyes. Naomi's eyebrow quirked up in response to the last observation, but swiftly straightened out when she felt a sob reverberate through Emily – yanking her from her thoughts and thrusting her back to reality.

The two eventually got up and wandered over to the water, evaluating scraps of the aircraft that were washed up and whether they were of any good use. The sun was burning them both, shining down brighter than they'd ever seen it, lighting the sky to a remarkable light blue with splatters of perfectly shaped clouds.

"There's nothing here, just, bits of metal and shit," Naomi complained, clearly exhausted already and her skin tinted in a shade of bright pink.

"Well, I guess we could walk up to—to where I woke up," Emily looked uncomfortable again, and this time around Naomi knew why, and she didn't blame her.

"Yeah, I mean, I know it's difficult but chances are that we'll find something, besides—you're not alone, right?" Trying to gauge whether or not Emily thought it was a good idea was tricky, Naomi finally caught her eye and offered her a reassuring nod. Whether or not she herself was sure was another matter, she'd never seen a dead body before and would rather it stayed that way. Her throat and mouth debated otherwise, if they didn't find something to drink soon, their dehydration would slowly eradicate them, especially in this heat.

She stood, leaning back and trying to stretch out her aches and pains from being hunched over whilst trawling through debris on the sand. Raising her hand to shield her line of vision from the sunlight, she attempted to see as far as possible down the beach – it looked beautifully devastating, how far away they were from _everything_.

Emily stretched too, complaining with a few expletives about her back. She watched her stretch up like a feline, wince a little from the pain which was also presented on her white shirt; stained with blood and dirt. Dark green shorts accompanied her outfit, revealing the grazes on her legs, smothered in sand stuck to the damp skin. Naomi hadn't had the chance to look at her properly until now; it'd been a whirlwind of fear and panic where the world around her became blurred.

"Should we start walking up?" Emily asked, jerking Naomi out of her trance and catching her eye, indicating with her hand which direction they were meant to be heading.

Naomi answers with a nod and begins walking towards her,

"Fucks sake." Her shoes are irritating her too much; she hasn't even noticed that she's had them on this entire time until now, she proceeded by quickly kicking them off. Looking back up, Emily stood patiently, facial features softening when she caught her eye. For a second, it didn't feel like they were stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, it felt like connecting to someone new back at home. However, the sand in between her toes, her torn skirt and her parched mouth act as reminders of where they really are.

Twisting her head around somewhat painfully, she continues walking whilst glancing at the set of footprints behind the two of them.

"Where are you from?" Emily asks as she follows Naomi's line of vision down the beach they had just crossed.

Turning her head back around to look in front of herself whilst giving Emily a peculiar glance on the way, she ran her fingers through her burning hot hair and sighed.

"Well it doesn't hurt to get to know each other, we're stuck here and shit," Emily reasons whilst attempting to pull Naomi out of the shell she's seemingly built up since they first met. Emily was a bit of a people watcher and she'd definitely put the blonde down as the closed off type, however pointless an attitude like that was in this situation.

"London. Well, I go to LSE but I'm originally from Bristol—the shit hole." Naomi airs in an irritated way, because she's had to think of home and because she's had to reveal something about herself.

"Oh, small world—I'm from Bristol too. But I decided to stay and study at the uni," She seemingly brushes off the insult targeting her home city, because there's no use arguing the point.

Naomi continued to walk, deep in her own thoughts – so much so that Emily decided not to interrupt her with any more ice-breakers. At least she wasn't stuck with an ignorant bigot, Naomi concluded, realising that Emily must've been pretty smart to get into Bristol uni.

"How much further?" She scolds herself for sounding like a moaning child but the muscles in her legs were beginning to really strain, she was sick of walking on sand and how much more difficult it is in comparison to normal ground. To top it all off, she's pretty sure her hair is turning white from all the over-exposure to the sun.

Emily suddenly stops walking and defensively positions her arms in front of her torso, instantly irritating Naomi who is preparing for an eye roll, before turning to look ahead of her and spotting plane debris scattered over the golden sand, the familiar seat that Emily had described and—

"Oh," She didn't want to see this, didn't want to realise just how serious this was. Her eyes begin watering but she can't stop staring at the man lying face down in the sand, limbs positioned unnaturally. Her stomach begins turning and she's forced to break her gaze, knees going weak, she can feel her stability dissipating.

Emily was a lot closer to her now, already having her hand wrapped around Naomi's arm for support. They stand like that for a while, looking anywhere but ahead of themselves, buying some precious time. The cool water is splashing their feet, washing away sand and any blood stained cuts that provide a stinging sensation.

The sky had become far darker, even though the sun was hanging high – clouds had rolled in from all directions. The difference was that these clouds weren't cotton coloured, floating harmlessly above them; these clouds were a cynical grey, offensive looking. These clouds were the ones the two girls had been more accustomed to back at home.

"Come on, it's okay—we need to," Naomi offered, the hesitance in her voice undermining her.

With a small nod from Emily, they begin to walk towards the fragments of the plane. The grip they have on each other becoming noticeably tighter with every step.


	4. Rainfall

**Sorry for the delay guys, I've had numerous things come up recently, like actual work. Plus my heartbreak after episode 2 didn't motivate me, I was so saddened /3  
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**However, I did manage to go to the book signing and meet Kat, Lily and Jack – so that made up for it. Anyway, here's the next chapter – not a major one, just starting to get the ball rolling.**

**All mistakes are mine, there might be quite a few since I felt like the living dead whilst writing this chap.**

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There's a blanket of grey covering the beach now, a sharp chill running through the two girls. Clouds have gathered, covering the sun and tinting the environment with a dull depression. The girls are taking hesitant steps towards the wreck, slowly coming closer to the deceased man on the ground. Emily takes her position behind Naomi, hiding from the harsh sight and grips her arm tightly.

"Jesus," Naomi breathes, they're standing by the torn out seat, clearly avoiding coming any closer to the body. She can feel Emily cling to her back, igniting a protective feeling, almost wanting to tuck her away from this situation. She observes the area, on the look out for anything that could aid them.

Emily loosens her grip slightly, upon the realization that she was probably cutting off Naomi's blood circulation to her hand. She feels something cool hit her skin, almost making her jump, noticing a droplet of water on her arm she furrows her eyebrows and looks up at the sky.

"It's going to rain," She declares, still mesmerized by the clouds swirling slowly in the sky.

Naomi turns her head and looks at the shorter girl, lets her eyes drag up from the dirty white shirt, up Emily's neck and onto her bruised face. Feels quite glad that Emily was too busy watching the rain begin to fall from above to notice her staring.

"Well then maybe we can use that thing there," Naomi points to a piece of metal that resembles some kind of compartment, "to collect the rainwater, you know?"

Emily drops her head back down to take a look, the corners of her mouth twitching up to a smile momentarily as she nods.

"Yeah, good idea,"

Naomi can see Emily looking at her from the corner of her eye, causing her to shift uncomfortably from foot to foot before diverting attention away from herself.

"We could take this too." She motions her hand towards the velvet blue seat before looking up at Emily for confirmation. Instead, she receives a raised eyebrow.

"What for? I'm not carrying that thing." Emily reasons, her eyebrow still cocked up and her cheeks twitching at the raindrops now beginning to pour down her face.

Naomi's face swiftly changes to a scowl at the rejection of her idea, strides up to the seat and begins to pull it across the sand, becoming increasingly annoyed.

Standing awkwardly for a second, Emily moves towards the compartment and picks it up. It's surprisingly heavy, tucking it under her arm she looks out to the ocean. The rain is slapping the surface of the water heavily now, causing the usually calm and serene view to look hostile, almost ugly.

She can feel streams of water wash over her face, basks in it. The rainwater feels gentle; it doesn't sting like the ocean does. She takes her time licking her lips, almost lapping up the water whilst shutting her eyes and swaying side to side gently.

Turning around, she notices Naomi begin to struggle dragging the seat down the beach, her face glaring offensively at the inanimate object. Shaking her head lightly, Emily begins to chuckle before her eyes catch the sight of the man on the sand – her face dropping and feeling guilty for having it in her to be able to smile in this situation. She slowly approached the body, clutching the compartment under her arm for support. Hovering in one place, she paid her respects to the stranger before a clap of thunder causes her to jump and frantically look for the blonde.

Before she could think about it, she found herself running towards Naomi, the heavy piece of metal under her arm causing her to lean unsteadily to one side.

Reaching the taller girl, she threw the compartment onto the seat and dissolved the dirty look Naomi was giving her when she lifted the other side of the burden from the sand.

Looking somewhat startled, Naomi's frown began to level itself, providing a mumbling of "...Thanks."

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Collapsing under a couple trees further inland, the girls were struggling to catch their breath. They had pushed and pulled the seat up into a little sheltered area of trees and bushes not far from the beach. Both now laying in the shape of stars on the ground, attempting to shake off the aching of their muscles.

"Remind me why we took it," Emily asks, glancing towards Naomi who looked like she was struggling to come up with a decent reason.

"Because—I don't fucking know." Naomi replies whilst wiping her face with equally soaked sleeves of her maroon and blue plaid shirt.

Emily's attention to the words that come out of Naomi's mouth dissipates, as she watches her blonde hair stick delicately to the curves of her face, beads of rainwater travelling down the expanse of her neck. She also notices the small tremble emanating from her, before realising she's shivering too, her clothes clinging to her skin and diminishing her body heat. Upon looking down at herself, she realises that her white shirt has become quite transparent but she's too far gone from caring to attempt to cover her body in a self conscious manner.

"F-fuck it's cold." Naomi has a way with words that puts a knife through any day dream you may have been in, bringing you back down to earth to face the facts. A realist; Emily concludes.

The wind picks up, splaying rainwater around the trees and back onto the girls. Occasional flashes of lightening reveal the unruly leaves, being torn and violently cutting through the air at alarming speeds.

Naomi jumps up then, unable to control her jittering as she takes unsteady steps towards the impractical seat. Emily follows suit, not sure what they're meant to be doing now but she's too cold to stay static. Grabbing the top of the soaked chair, Naomi attempts to use her entire body force to tip it forward – the petite redhead soon catches on and pushes it from behind, causing it to topple over and create an upside down 'V' shape.

"At least you're good at something, midget." Naomi shouts, because a normal tone would not be heard over the impressive storm thundering away above them.

With that, the blonde swiftly ducks and crawls underneath the make-do shelter they've created, as though she can't stick around when her compliment was still hanging in the air.

The corners of Emily's mouth twitch up into a smile, even though she's standing in the middle of what seems to be a tornado on an island far from home, an offhand commendation from a pretty girl can still make her day. However, her body begins to sway dangerously when being propelled by the wind and she quickly drops to the floor to get under the seat before realising there really isn't enough space.

Naomi is squinting and attempting to look at her through the blanket of rain pouring down, with only the clouded moonlight offering any semblance of light. The sheltered girl opens her mouth to speak but rolls her eyes when she realises it'd be a waste of time, decides to beckon Emily frantically towards the seat, looking quite annoyed with her.

Emily turns out to be smaller than she herself thought she was - fitting snugly in between the back of the seat and Naomi's protruding elbow. It's uncomfortable, there is wet sand smothering her skin and her feet are still being slapped by the downfall of rain but she can feel herself becoming slightly warmer. She notices Naomi's hands trembling in the dark, reaching out absentmindedly to gauge just how cold they are she flinches when making contact with the ice cold skin.

"Your hands are freezing." she can't help the shrill tone of her voice, laced with concern.

"Bad circulation," Naomi's almost inaudible reply due to her chattering teeth is the cue for Emily to wrap her arms around the shivering girl and pull her in. Naomi stiffens for a second, before welcoming the heat that another body is providing her and attempts to fuse every part of their skin together for as much shared surface as possible.

Emily clenches her jaw as she feels the small but significant body heat she's managed to create extinguish when Naomi envelopes her. Giving too much of herself is going to be the death of her one day, that's what her friends tell her but this time, she believes it. She tightens her grip on the blonde and prays that they begin to warm each other soon because her consciousness was becoming more and more distant.


	5. Alive

**Sorry for the huge delay; I was on holiday. I know what it feels like to wait for an update, my apologies.**

**Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to update a little more regularly now.**

**Enjoy. Review. Criticize. Suggest. Compliment. All is welcome.**

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Emily opens her eyes to an uncomfortably bright setting; she can feel the suns rays beam down onto her body, covering her skin in a hot glow. Her hand begins to pat the space beside her as she remembers she slept under the upturned seat with Naomi, but finds an empty space instead. Turning her head to glance at where she might've gone, she winces in pain from the uncomfortable position she slept in.

As if on cue, Naomi walks up to the seat and peeks down to see whether or not the red head is awake; when noticing that she is – she let a crooked smile spread across her lips.

"Morning,"

"You seem, cheerful?" Emily wonders out loud, she wasn't used to Naomi being anything but a scowling mess, granted, she was a pretty good-looking scowling mess. She thinks it must've been something other than the sleep they both got, or rather the lack of it.

Naomi looked almost like a child, running up to a mother looking for praise, bouncing ever so slightly from foot to foot. It made sense when she displayed the hand that had been behind her back, gripping onto a banana so hard that her knuckles were going white.

"Where'd you find that?!" Emily's hand was already reaching for it halfway through her over-excited question.

Naomi wasn't going to get in the way of Emily and the banana, handing it to her playfully after she lifted it so the shorter girl couldn't reach off the floor, she couldn't resist.

"You're going to fucking choke, calm down." She continues to watch Emily gobble the fruit down with abandon.

After a challenging look from Emily because of Naomi's amusement, the blonde retreated and gazed over at the beach, running her fingertips over the scratches on her arm absentmindedly.

Emily finishes her banana in record time, wiping her mouth and looking in the same direction as Naomi. The waves were rolling onto the beach, gorgeous shades of blues and whites weaving through each other with every crash. The sky is as clear as it ever was; an endless azure space – no signs of the storm that hit them last night.

"Thanks, for last night." Naomi mumbled in an uncomfortable tone, still looking out in front of her.

Emily glanced over at her without moving her head, just watched her from the corner of her eye and nodded once.

The blonde was wringing her hands and suddenly fidgeting, then spontaneously pointed in a direction to the right.

"That container we brought back, it's filled with rainwater–you should go have a drink." Naomi says, glancing at the water filled compartment, then back at Emily. Looks amused once more when Emily's head turns so fast it could snap her neck.

Emily scrambles swiftly towards it, she doesn't bother wasting time getting up onto her feet and just shuffles on her knees. Dipping her hands into the fresh water, raising her cupped palms and drinking – she sat back and slapped the rest of the liquid on her face. She basks in the feeling of refreshment against her damaged face. Her throat still feels like sand paper, so she continues to drink; drinks until her stomach begins to gurgle dangerously.

Naomi gets up, beginning to walk further inland, striding around Emily and the water.

"Where are you going?" Emily shoots up to follow, a little too enthusiastically.

Naomi performs a little twirl to address Emily's question face to face "Going to get more bananas," before spinning back around and taking confident steps further into the island.

* * *

Emily begins to snap, because the humidity, dehydration and hunger is working against the both of them.

"You said it was five minutes away—how _long_ have been looking?"

"I don't know."

"You've got a watch,"

"My watch was smashed when I woke up here, okay?" Naomi's retorts are becoming more and more bitter, even though she knows full well this isn't Emily's fault – far from it.

She must've taken the wrong turn somewhere.

"Everything looks the fucking same, for fu—" Naomi's footing loses balance and she's on her way down, luckily for her; Emily wraps her hands around the unsteady blonde and lifts her back up.

For a second, Naomi looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights, eyes wide, still shaking with adrenaline, clearly unable to process what just occurred. Emily just pats her back gently to reassure her, before taking a step forward and tilting her head.

"Do you hear that?" Clearly not expecting Naomi to answer, she begins to wander through a few large leaves splayed out in her path.

Emily continues to move forward, as though hypnotized by something she's heard, Naomi stands dumbfounded before following the stark shade of red that's now disappearing in the blur of unfamiliar nature.

After several expletives about the density of leaves and bushes around her, Naomi stands to a halt when she finally reaches Emily.

"Wow."

They stand at the top of a cliff, with water cascading down in a seemingly endless current. The waterfall hits a pool below them, ripples permanently flowing on the surface due to the foamy crash of the impact. The girls can smell something that can only be described as invigorating, feeling the refreshing spray bless their skin in an inviting matter.

They stand there, just observing the different shades of green covering the moist rocks around them, how much brighter they are. As though this waterfall is the fountain of life, offering it to anyone or anything lucky enough to encounter it, to embrace it.

Naomi feels as though she's just opened her eyes to the world around her. She'd never seen anything like this, what she knows as home is a blur of grey that becomes meaningless now that she's witnessed nature at its best. She stands and wonders why she's spent so long wasting her life when there were things like this just waiting for her to experience, to see.

"We need to get down there," Naomi commands more than requests, her eyes unable to tear themselves away from what's in front of her, off the stream directly below her. In her periphery vision she notices that Emily nods then steps back.

Naomi is too busy attempting to find a decent way down moss covered rocks without having to fear for her life to notice that Emily has gotten undressed.

"On that side," Naomi vaguely points to the right "where the moss looks a bit like Jesus' face, I reckon we could climb down it. ...Emily?"

As the inflection of her name leaves Naomi's lips, the shorter girl sprints straight past her; provoking a gust of wind to blow by the blonde as she watches Emily rocket off the edge of the cliff in nothing more but her underwear. Pink lace lingers on Naomi's eyelids before she realizes what Emily has actually just done.


	6. Connection

**You guys, whatever you do – do not let your laptop charger overheat. Mine exploded. I kid you not. Anyway, I got a new one in the post this morning, so HERE'S SOME OVERDUE FIC!**

**All mistakes are mine, please do point things out - it only helps me improve.  
**

**Reviewing makes my day.**

* * *

Jolting forward to the edge of the cliff, Naomi scans the water, noticing waves emanating in circles around where she presumes Emily hit the water. Feeling her heart begin to race with worry, she squints her eyes and makes out a shade of red underwater just before surfacing and revealing Emily's pale face plastered with a grin.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Naomi exhales the breath she was holding. She can hear giggling down below her amongst the sound of the waterfall.

"What are you waiting for?" Emily yells from the water, kicking her feet to stay afloat and using one hand to shield her eyes from the sun whilst looking up at the cliff.

Naomi knows Emily wouldn't be able to make out her face, but is already naturally scowling down at her, watching her balance very closely due to the dizzying height.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She cringes at how indirectly caring that sounded. "I'm not jumping."

"What are you afraid of? Chicken shit!" Emily laughs and begins to swim on her back, kicking up the water as far as possible to make her point.

Naomi narrows her eyes in response, takes a deep breath in and steps back from the edge, analysing Emily's clothes on the ground – raising her eyebrows when noticing that she even folded her shirt.

Slipping out of torn material, she analyses her body – bruises slowly beginning to fade. Embracing the spray from the waterfall on her hot skin is bliss; the sun is merciless today. Exhaling slowly and glancing back at her messy pile of clothes, she shuts her eyes, giving herself a mental pep talk before sprinting off the edge.

Her heart is beating so fast she thinks it might implode in her chest; there isn't a rush quite like falling in mid-air. Before she knows it, her entire body is underwater. She swirls weightlessly and begins kicking her feet, attempting to surface for the oxygen she didn't inhale before jumping.

Flipping her wet hair back from her face, she finally opened her eyes and grinned at the glittering reflections on the water, it was heaven. Emily's watching her with a smile on her face, then sinks down underwater and glides beneath Naomi until she can grab at her ankles. Even underwater, Emily could hear the muffled scream emanate from the blonde; causing her to burst out laughing and simultaneously chokes before shooting up for air.

She is greeted with a slap on the head whilst spluttering and wiping her eyes. It couldn't keep her grin at bay however. Opening her eyes, the first thing she witnesses is a piercing blue, not from the sky but from Naomi – she hadn't realised how close they had been after she surfaced. Blonde hair was plastered to bruised but otherwise flawless skin and lips slowly lifted into a smirk.

"This feels so good," Naomi mumbles whilst letting her eyes shut, smiling to herself.

Emily actually felt herself fall back into her body, snapping out of her gaze and returning the smile to the beautiful girl, even though she couldn't witness it.

"Yea, it does." Taking a breath in, she began to let herself float onto her back, feeling the sun radiate onto the exposed skin.

* * *

The girls had immersed themselves in the water for quite some time before lying across scorching rocks from exhaustion. Both on their backs, letting the sun heat them and dry the water off their skin.

"I'm so hungry." Emily groans, her stomach constantly rumbling and the pain now becoming unbearable. She opens her eyes slightly and glances at the girl beside her, waiting for her to reply. Instead of concentrating on the blonde's lips, her attention is quickly diverted to the long, smooth legs leading up to Naomi's black hotpants, still clinging to her moist skin.

Emily's breath hitches before being broken out of her reverie by Naomi's agreeing tone. It didn't last long however, her gaze continued to observe every little bead of water flowing down Naomi's skin, outlining the way her body curves perfectly.

"Bananas it is then." Naomi exhales her words before raising her upper body off the boulder and stretching with her arms above her head. It's at that point that Emily can't believe her luck, not only did she survive the crash – but she survived with, _her_. The redheads' staring persists just a second longer, watching the way Naomi's muscles work and tense; it persists that precise second too long, when Naomi raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest.

Emily's quick at deflecting situations, quick at making excuses.

"You've got quite a bruise on your ribs… is it okay?" She couldn't help but commend herself mentally for the successful job of excusing her staring. Naomi falls for it, dropping her arms and looking down to inspect the bruise before nodding.

"Come on, I think I remember the way this time." The blonde instructs, looking a little deflated after the admittance of her poor sense of direction.

"If you hadn't gotten us lost, we wouldn't have found this place." Emily offers, whilst waving her hand out to the waterfall and watching Naomi's face light up almost immediately when taking in her surroundings once again, in turn, Emily's face lit up too – eyes firmly trained on the girl now standing above her.

* * *

The girls manage to climb back up to where their clothes reside, Naomi quickly dressing herself back into maroon plaid, Emily into her now brown-looking-white shirt.

"You sure you know the way?" Emily asks with her eyebrow raised.

Naomi simply shrugs and nods her head forward so they can both begin walking once more.

It doesn't take long for the bright yellow fruit to appear in a few trees, nor does it take long for Emily to sprint towards them, attempting to reach and pick a few but failing miserably.

Naomi strides up looking most amused and pleased with herself when standing on her tip toes and acquiring a banana. Emily watches her then, the way her blonde hair cascades down her shoulders whilst she has her lip bitten in concentration of the task at hand. Looking down at Emily, Naomi smiles and throws the banana her way proudly.

"Poor midget." Naomi's face begins to form a smirk whilst reaching up for her own banana; Emily takes the opportunity to push Naomi off-balance for her jibe. Falling into the tree, the taller girls' eyes widen and she squeals before grabbing onto Emily's arm for support.

Eyebrow cocked, Emily retorts; "Be careful there, giants don't seem to be very balanced."

Naomi's face was a perfectly executed scowl, from her eyebrows to her lips which were mumbling something about "stupid cunting dwarfs".

* * *

Throwing the bunch of bananas down onto the sand beside their useless velvet seat, the girls drop to the floor and exhale long fatigued sighs.

They sit, side by side staring idly at the scene in front of them. The sun is beginning to hang low in the sky once more, indicating the end of yet another day in the middle of nowhere. Clouds are nowhere to be seen, simply a gradient of purple and blue across the clear sky.

"Do you think they're looking for us?" Emily asks whilst dropping her eyes down to her hands.

Naomi simply turns to look at her, following her line of vision to her hands, then back up at her before shrugging.

"Don't know—they should be. You'd think with the amount of technology they have, they'd have found us by now. Bastards are probably too lazy to realise our plane didn't even make it."

Emily narrows her eyes then, still staring her hands, before looking up at the blonde.

"Why are you so cynical?"

Naomi's face scrunches, quite adorably Emily notes, but certainly in an irritated way.

"Because that's what life is, nobody _really_ cares, do they?" Beginning to look frustrated, she picks at her nails before sighing and leaning back on her elbows.

Emily mimics her movements, propping herself up by her arms and noting the height difference through her feet only reaching half-way down Naomi's shins.

"Maybe we're just really far from where we were meant to be, you know?" Emily offers, acknowledging Naomi's empty chuckle.

"You're an optimist, I'm a realist." Naomi raises her eyebrows to punctuate her statement and observes Emily's cut on her bottom lip.

Emily nods slightly and goes back to focusing on the sea.

A quiet but understanding moment passes, silence forever filled by the sound of the ocean.

"Why were you going to Fiji?" Emily turns to watch the blonde for a reply and sits back up, wrapping her arms around her legs and rests her chin on her knees.

"What is this, sharing time?" It's out of her mouth before she can even think about it; Naomi shuts her eyes so she doesn't have to see the usual reaction to her bitter words, thinks that maybe there's no harm in not being an ice queen _all_ the time.

"Orphans. I was going out there to help a charity, thought it was a win-win situation—helping kids and getting to stay in Fiji."

Emily's face changes from an annoyed frown to a gentle smile, the critic in her points out that Naomi contradicts herself; she actually cares, even if she believes nobody really does.

Opening her eyes and lifting her body to match Emily, Naomi wraps her arms around her legs too – whilst looking at Emily expectantly.

"What?" The redhead chimes, noting the amount of skin on show on Naomi's legs due to her skirt getting trapped beneath her. Her gaze is abruptly interrupted when the blonde speaks.

"Well, what were you going there for?" Naomi asks as though Emily's a five-year-old, unable to understand the meaning of mutual sharing.

"Oh. My friends arranged it for me; I just got out of a relationship." Naomi notes that as she's speaking, Emily's eyes drop to the sand below her, along with the sinking of her head further into her knees. _She looks fucking tiny._ It's when she says that to herself that she realises, maybe she should actually offer the girl some comfort. Shifting awkwardly towards her, she reaches her hand out and wraps it around a smaller, soft one belonging to the redhead.

"Well, it's working isn't it? You've probably not thought about him during your entire stay." She didn't know if the dry humour would go down well, but whilst watching Emily's lips curve up to a smile, she pats herself on the back mentally.

"Yea, you're right. I've not thought about _her_." Naomi notices the way Emily looks up to gauge her reaction, she simply smiles at her – figures she's been given hell for being anything but the conformed heterosexual everyone presumes her to be.

"Don't insult me by wondering whether or not I'm some kind of closed-minded prick," Her serious tone is betrayed by the smile still etched on her lips. She doesn't even remember the last time she's been so friendly to anyone, let alone a stranger.

"Thanks," Emily mumbles. That's what confuses Naomi; _why is she thanking me for letting her be herself?_ Blue eyes study the small girl then, her tousled hair looks surprisingly good considering the circumstances. As does her face, she looks so gathered and stable, quite juxtaposed with the amount of cuts and bruises she's sporting.

"Come on midget, I'm knackered. Help me tear off the sponges from the seat." Emily smiles at the seemingly new nick name she's acquired and nods.

"Just don't fall over and crush me—you giant." The mock scowl Naomi shoots her only makes her chuckle and get up.

* * *

They manage to rip off two bits of foam from the seat, now using them as pillows. The night is warm for a change, still not a cloud in sight; allowing the girls to stare at the seemingly infinite amount of stars in the sky. The mesmerizing quality nature has is conveyed by the two pairs of wide eyes currently in awe.

Breaking the comfortable silence, Emily gently speaks.

"It's nice, that you volunteered to do that." Naomi's lost for a second; not being able to comprehend what was just said due to the way Emily's voice sounded, deep and husky but still kind and soft.

"I just, care." She says as though it doesn't need explaining, as though that's all that should matter. She's ready to roll her eyes though, because nobody's ever _understood_.

"I know. You just don't like to show it." Emily responds in a way that catches Naomi off-guard. The blonde glances at her, watches the way the moonlight outlines Emily's face, stunned by how soft and inviting her skin looks. Brown eyes reflect the shimmering lights of a thousand distant suns before focusing their attention on blue.

Almost automatically, Naomi's face becomes gentle and smiles at the girl beside her. She wonders how she could feel so comfortable and understood by someone that she barely knows – but for once she doesn't question it, simply basks in the feeling.


	7. Falling

**I'm doing my best to find time to update; it doesn't help that I spend days on one chapter, weaving in symbolism here and there. I consider the process of building a relationship extremely precious, I personally rather quality than quantity. If you like certain elements, please do let me know! It encourages me. (Also, for those who have seen _Cast Away_; spot the reference. This film inspires me to write this - not LOST.)  
**

* * *

The few seconds you regain consciousness, bleary eyed and ignorant to the world around you; they shouldn't usually be treasured but Naomi subconsciously let herself linger in the daze far longer than usual. Like all things, it inevitably comes to an end.

The sky is blinding, her mouth is parched and she's pretty sure the rumbling in the stomach is what woke her up. Her body instantly shoots up when she realises her situation, once again. The difference in her behaviour this morning is that she doesn't automatically look out to the sea for comfort, but to her side; absent-mindedly watching Emily's chest rise and fall gently, her face peacefully aligned. She notices a strand of scarlet coloured hair obscuring her view of the smaller girls' features, without thinking she reaches out to tuck it behind her ear – stopping millimetres away from contact and retracting swiftly.

"What are you doing," She mumbles to herself during a long winded sigh, running her hand through her own knotted and sandy hair. Letting out a small chuckle at the state of her blonde locks;_ because_ _I'm worth it_. Sometimes, she was grateful for her sense of humour.

* * *

"What do you miss the most?" Emily asks out of breath, attempting to follow Naomi's steps up a rocky hill. She struggles miserably because for every one careful step the blonde takes, she has to take two – often slipping on the odd unsteady slate.

"Cigarettes and vodka, I could use both right about now," The taller girl responds before letting out a chuckle at Emily's failed attempt of hopping from one boulder to another and holds out her hand.

The redheads face softens from the aggravated look it was previously sporting and clings to Naomi's palm for support, offering a nod of appreciation.

Now on reasonably level land, the two girls fall into step.

"What about you?" Naomi continues to look ahead, constantly making sure she doesn't step into some kind of ditch or fall off a cliff side like she almost did before.

"My sister—well, twin." The redhead pulls a face that suggests she is surprised with her own response.

"There's _two_ of you?" Naomi stops walking, displaying a look of mock horror on her face, which earns an impressive punch on the arm.

"We're completely different, apart from looks – obviously."

"One midget is bad enough, but two… wait, is it the whole _my evil twin_ cliché?"

Emily airs a light chuckle then, smiling to herself. "Yeah, it is."

Naomi simply grins and continues walking, letting a comfortable silence envelope them.

* * *

"Jesus Christ, slow down, I'm fucking exhausted." Naomi moans just before dropping to her knees and flopping onto her side, flat on the ground.

"You can't be serious." Emily responds with a raise of an eyebrow.

"_Sorry_ for not being as fit as you, Christ."

"I'm not fit, I'm Fitch." Emily bursts into laughter instantly, holding at her sides and wondering why Naomi is still lying on the ground looking at her as though she just grew a second head.

"Oh, r—right. My second name is Fitch – dad used to own a gym with the slogan _don't get fit, get Fitch_." Emily offers a mocking wave of the arms to accompany the slogan.

Naomi continues to look unimpressed, but her lips fail her and they slowly turn into a smirk.

"Fitch. I like it." It makes Emily's cheeks go light pink. Naomi figures it's easy to make the redhead blush, thinks it suits her.

"Nice to meet you Naomi—err…" The shorter girl continues to look at Naomi expectantly, but the blonde doesn't utter a word, simply looks back up with a deadpan face.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What's your second name?"

"Why does that matter?"

"I told you mine."

"I didn't ask though, did I?"

Emily recoils slightly, before smirking. "It can't be _that_ bad."

Naomi simply rolls her eyes and focuses her eyes at something insignificant beside her on the ground, whispering almost inaudibly "It's Campbell."

Emily raises her eyebrow.

"What's so bad about th—at," She stammers half way, attempting to control the laughter bubbling in her throat, the muscles in her cheeks are aching. It becomes even harder when Naomi's face looks as though it could kill.

A few more twitches of her lips and Emily's laugh escapes.

She doesn't see Naomi smile gently before quickly plastering a scowl over her features.

* * *

Soon, they reach the peak of an untouched grassy hill; the view astounds them. They can see the beach, where they slept the previous night, but they also see just how seemingly endless it is.

Turning to look at the other side, Emily gasps at the vast area of green plants, trees, _nature_. There are no buildings, no radio masts, nothing. She never thought she'd miss any of those things.

Turning to look at the blonde, who is now violently kicking the ground in frustration, her face saddens.

"Where the hell are we, I mean, why haven't they fucking found us already?" Naomi faces Emily, waiting for an explanation. The redhead only looks at the ground which infuriates her more.

Emily walks up to a large boulder, almost specifically designed by nature to sit on and admire the view below. She drops onto the hot rocky surface and props her head on her knees. Even from a distance, the sound of waves crashing onto the beach overwhelms any potential silence; drowning out the sound of Naomi's footsteps distancing themselves from her.

After a few minutes of regaining her optimism, Emily turns around wondering why she hasn't heard Naomi stomp around screaming at the world in a while. She should've guessed; the only reason it was quiet is because she's nowhere to be seen.

"Great." With a sigh, she rises to her feet and makes her way back down.

* * *

After the better part of an hour, Emily finally finds Naomi slouching in front of the sea, letting her feet touch the swirling water. She knows that Naomi's departure earlier was simply out of frustration but she can't help the angry tone in her voice.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Naomi looks up, her face cold with a spark of annoyance running through her eyes.

"You can't just run off like that, what if you got lost—what if I got lost?" Emily's voice only became harsher after Naomi's defiant silence.

"Just because I'm stuck here with you, does not mean I'm obliged to spend every fucking second by your side. Cheers for the concern though." _Well practiced speech_ Emily thinks. Figures that Naomi knows she did the wrong thing, maybe even feels a little guilty. That single thought changes her approach, she knows picking a fight with this girl would blow up in her face – she seems like a person who would be in a debating team of some sort, probably the god damned captain at that. So Emily does what she does best; calms the situation with her honest eyes.

"You're all I've got, Naomi." Her voice is soft; her body now on the sand sat beside the blonde. The shift in attitude catches Naomi off-guard, Emily presumes she was most likely already planning a retort.

"Lucky you." Emily knows that this response is the closest Naomi will ever get to an apology so she takes it, meeting blue eyes with a smile.

* * *

Hours turn into days. Days turn into the loss of tracking time.

The girls came to the conclusion that the plane must have landed in the water somewhere, breaking apart just before contact – somehow allowing them to survive. They also built a sturdy looking shelter, found several different fruits and taught themselves how to catch fish. Emily had no trouble creating a fire, much to Naomi's surprise.

The days became blurry, simply mixtures of blazing heat and cool darkness with the occasional rainfall. All significance was lost albeit the day when an unknown suitcase appeared floating on the sea; supplying the girls with extra large clothing, toothpaste, sun cream and even a beach ball. Naomi named it Wilson.

For the most part, they get on. Naomi rambles, Emily listens. Naomi takes risks, Emily takes care. They fit. Until their differences create disputes, but none manage to get far considering there's nowhere to escape.

By approximately the third week, they both stop complaining about how they miss technology, alcohol and their beds.

Naomi wordlessly lifts Emily up to pick things off trees before the redhead even realises she won't reach.

Emily ignores the poorly repaired shelter roof that is repeatedly shifted by Naomi's height, instead, Emily smiles because the blonde consistently tries to fix it without her knowing.

* * *

"No you will not be able to make it across."

"W—what, of course I could." Naomi isn't surprised anymore when Emily guesses exactly what she's thinking, in this case, jumping from one boulder to the next on their usual route for mangos.

"You may have long legs, but you can't bloody fly," Emily smirks knowingly; she's simply waiting for Naomi to accept the challenge and fail miserably.

She sneers, she jumps, and she falls right into Emily on the ground.

They've shared awkward moments before, talking about past relationships, swimming a little too close, even finding time to flirt. This is not one of those moments.

Naomi is lying over Emily's hips and holding her knee in pain whilst simultaneously crushing the smaller girl beneath her weight.

Emily winces and looks up, she catches that shade of magnificent blue and all green around her fades. She wouldn't be able to pin point where exactly she went from hardly knowing her to treasuring her company. Newly discovered butterflies flutter in her lower abdomen; she's holding her breath and smiling.

Naomi smirks back, wiping a streak of dirt off Emily's face with her thumb before rising up onto her feet. She offers a hand when the redhead sits still on the ground, seemingly deep in thought.

They walk together, with intoxicating new air around them – wondering whether this is as bad as they thought.


	8. Flying

**Jesus, it looks like all the writers are on holiday somewhere recently. I, too, am away yet again (yes I travel quite frequently), though I've finally acquired some wireless internet connection and have arrived to give you a new chapter. The story is hopefully beginning to take form, so it's becoming quite a thrill to write – especially when I'm stuck somewhere stuffy waiting to travel to my next destination. **

**I've noticed that I consistently and swiftly change the focus between Emily and Naomi throughout each chapter, highlighting both their thoughts and feelings in a seemingly jumbled way – so I've tried to focus on Emily for now. Again, if there's anything you like/dislike; do let me know! It helps me shape what you will hopefully enjoy to read.**

* * *

She told Naomi that the fish didn't look cooked, but being as stubborn as ever, the blonde simply scowled and continued eating it, fresh from the little bonfire they shared. She emptied her stomach three times the following morning, with the number still rising throughout the day.

"Why didn't you bloody listen to me?" Emily's words simply making the girl lazily roll her eyes, though she registers the affection she's receiving when Emily tucks a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

Sitting beside Naomi in the shade of their palm tree, Emily rinses the make-shift cloth in the water compartment, keeping Naomi's forehead cool.

"This is the last thing we need." She punctuates her statement with a tut.

"It's not like I fucking went out of my way to be sick," Emily only frowns at Naomi's attempt at a usually perfect retort, but her eyelids are heavy and her cold sweat covered body is limp.

"You don't look well at all; you need to drink some more water." Emily's voice wavers in concern, the huskiness cracking with every vowel she pronounces.

Bringing up a large camping flask they luckily recovered from the stray suitcase, Emily lifts it to Naomi's lips, tipping it up a little too fast and causing the water to flow down Naomi's chin and neck.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Dabbing carefully at the blonde's neck, Emily's hands freeze. Her fingers clutching the damp cloth tightly, she holds her breath and continues drying Naomi eventually. The sudden nervousness that overcame her doesn't go unnoticed, although it isn't questioned either.

A few minutes later when the redhead thinks she's free to gaze at Naomi, her eyes finally wander back to the delicate curves of the blonde's neck, memorizing each slope as though she'll never get to see her again.

* * *

Emily welcomes the thunder and lightening, it's almost a Pavlovian reaction to feeling the familiar butterflies in her stomach as Naomi's slender arms wrap around her. Like every other time, Emily prays that her racing heartbeat is drowning in the noise around her; she curses herself for being so easily affected as though she is 16 all over again. University and her previous relationships should have made her bolder, sturdier and although they have – Naomi manages to undo her in all the right ways, in all the ways she secretly misses from her youth. Her conflicting thoughts quickly vanish when she feels hands tighten around her waist, she can't move even if she'd want to.

Inevitably, sleep blankets them both regardless of the muffled storm around them.

Their shelter creates a little cocoon, tucking them away from nature during the night and provides a little sanctuary for when they need it most.

Emily tried to make it as homely as possible, putting up a few crooked shelves with a mix of rock slates and coconut shells. Naomi threw a tantrum, wondering out loud why Emily even bothers when it will never be anything close to home – simply a painful reminder of what they lost. Knowingly, Emily gave her time to cool off, come back and attempt an apology which came in the form of a few things to put up on the shelves (one of which a piece of flat driftwood with 'Home sweet home' carved sloppily into the surface).

* * *

Among the hunter-gatherer type survival roles they both adopt, something grows with each day, something beneath the exterior. The dynamic between the girls offers comfort but from time to time (which becomes increasingly frequent) something else is present, tension in its most pleasant form swirls delicately in the air.

This persistent tension surrounding them adds fuel to the fire for Emily, her hope for mutual affection continually burning deep in her chest. She can't remember if she's ever felt a bond quite as strong as the one she's currently sharing with Naomi before, although, she's never been stranded on an island with one person before either. Somehow, she doesn't think the two are connected.

* * *

Daylight shines through the gaps of wood in the shelter, waking Emily mercilessly. She moves to sleepily stretch her limbs when suddenly noticing she's being restricted by the figure beside her. Naomi's head is perched up on her shoulder, hot breath tickling the skin on her neck and an arm keeping her hips in place – Emily can only exhale a heavy breath and attempt to calm the increasingly rampant beating of her heart.

She doesn't know how long she's simply been lying there but she swiftly snaps out of her daze when Naomi stirs and slowly opens her eyes, squinting and adjusting to the light of day. Emily turns her head and smirks at the blonde, nodding down at their intertwined bodies when Naomi expresses her confusion over the seemingly smug face she's woken up to. Widening her eyes, the taller girl moves away as though burned, sitting up slightly and leaning back on her elbows.

"Shut up." The muttering of the words is all it takes for Emily to start laughing, playfully shoving Naomi on the shoulder. It catches her off-guard then, the look of pure fondness that washes over blue eyes when they glance back at her.

By the time she manages to get her breath back, Naomi scrambles away to get a drink, leaving Emily to drop back onto the sand and attempt to relax.

"Pull yourself together, Christ." She mutters, her fingers absent-mindedly fiddling with the button on her shorts, sparking a wonder of whether her feelings or her sexual frustration will cause her to crack and jump Naomi first. She shakes her head, attempting to push away any filthy thoughts at this time of the day, though her senses conveniently become flooded with fantasies of great detail that have accumulated over the past weeks. Unfortunately, Emily quickly snaps out of her reverie when she hears the loud expletives emanating from the blonde – a tell tale sign that she either walked into something or spilled the water.

* * *

The sun is impossibly hot, blazing in the sky and creating a higher temperature for the girls with every passing day. Naomi points out they're lucky enough to have adjusted to the heat by now before its current peak so that they aren't burning to a crisp or constantly passing out. Emily automatically nods without hearing a word Naomi's saying, just watches the way her legs stretch on tip toes to help her reach a mango. It doesn't help that the blonde cut her khakis so short they could pass off as a belt; for once, Emily thanks god for Naomi's terribly inaccurate estimations.

"Hello? Are you listening…oi, midg—" Naomi's mouth freezes when she catches the look on Emily's face.

"What did I tell you about calling me a midget?" Raising her eyebrows, the redhead dares Naomi to challenge her.

"You told me not to, but what did I tell _you_ about telling _me_ what to do?" In an attempt to level Emily's stare, Naomi puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes. Her composure is lost the second Emily throws a mango her way and accurately hits her on the head, bouncing off in a spectacular fashion. By the time Naomi lifts her head back up to glare and pummel Emily, the shorter girl is twenty feet away from her and continuously getting further, as fast as her little legs will take her.

"Fucking…_midget_!" Naomi stands expectantly waiting for Emily to stop and return after her insult, but the shout only makes the laughing in the distance louder.

It doesn't take long for Naomi to catch up, diving with all her might at the girl in front of her and crashing straight into the sand on their beach. Both girls land side by side, out of breath yet still laughing to the point of tears and half-heartedly kicking at each other. Slowly, the giggles begin to simmer down and Emily feels her arm brush delicately against Naomi's – they had been shoving and pushing each other for a while but the spark of electricity that surges through her body lets Emily know that this time, she's _feeling_ Naomi. It's all she needs to boost her confidence and link her fingers with the ones laying mere centimetres away. She feels her chest implode when Naomi tightens the grip around her hand, turns and smiles softly.

Minutes later, with their hands still firmly attached, when they're pointing at clouds and trying to find the dirtiest looking one – Emily completely lets go, both feet off the ground, she feels like she's flying.


	9. Fever

**Wow, I have to say, I was so pleasantly surprised with the amount of lovely reviews for the last chapter. It really does make a difference; I'm so motivated to write more when I read that people are enjoying my story. I just got back home from being on the road and I managed to fit in some writing time whilst travelling so; here's the next part, my lovelies.**

**You-smell-terrific: Good timing on the update request ;)**

**KairiM: Thank you, I thoroughly enjoy development between two characters before they're thrown together – I'm glad I'm achieving that in your opinion.**

**AssassinsLover: Your continuous encouragement through reviews is fuel to the fire on Naomi and Emily's beach, thank you.**

**theidealdream: Thank you. Your review really ignited my motivation to write more whilst being away; I'm honoured to have received such compliments on this story.**

**Sox: Wilson was the best supporting actor, ever.**

**If there are any mistakes/errors, don't be afraid to point them out - it helps me grow. Commendation is nice too ;)  
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"We should've done this a long time ago," Naomi remarks whilst wiping the sweat off her forehead with her arm. Leaning heavily on the severed wooden branch in her other hand, she sighs and let's go of the stick which is still firmly dug into the ground.

The girls had decided to dig 'SOS' unceremoniously into the sand of their beach, though they hadn't realised just how much effort is required. Going about their day is hard enough with the sun constantly beating them down, but having to exude vast amounts of physical labour too is having a visible effect on both of them.

Naomi exhales aggressively and begins to peel the tank top off her perspiring torso whilst being completely oblivious to the slack-jawed state she's causing the redhead to fall into. Emily's eyes widen automatically, taking in the newly exposed skin across from her, shining in the sun from the layer of sweat Naomi's worked up. It's not as though this is the first time she's seen the blonde half naked, the constant swimming and general stripping of unneeded layers is normal for the girls – yet each and every time, Emily feels her heart begin to hammer and her mouth go dry; this time she thinks she may very well faint as she catches a glimpse of Naomi's black bra.

Her eyes watch the ways Naomi's stomach muscles move and work in an attempt to pull the offensive clothing off, in any other circumstance she may consider the taller girl's inability to undress herself without getting stuck quite funny to watch, however, this alternate reaction is simply a fleeting thought as she concentrates on the beads of sweat trickling down dirty, sun kissed skin. She realises she's been staring for too long when it's already been noticed, Naomi is licking her lips; readying herself to comment.

"Perving, were we?" Emily knew it was coming, yet she still feels her cheeks grow hot.

"Honey, your body ain't that special." She accompanies the phenomenal lie with an eyeroll and she simply waits for Naomi to tear the statement apart with a witty reply.

It doesn't come. The blonde just chews on her bottom lip and cocks her hip to one side in a way that makes Emily weak in knees, a fresh dose of adrenaline flooding her blood stream and feeding her racing heart. Her mind is swarming with images of closing the gap and finally slicing through the sexual tension with a brutally lustful kiss but when it comes to acting these fantasies out; her feet are welded to the infinite number of sand grains below her.

So she drops her eyes and continues to dig, gripping to her stick for support since her legs still haven't fully stabilised yet.

* * *

Sometimes Emily looks up at the sky briefly and without realising it, stands for a good ten minutes or so. The beauty of it completely mesmerizing her, however, more recently she's been dropping her head to something far more attractive, gazing at her; it's these stolen looks from Naomi that convince her she should do something about the whirlwind of feelings inside her. It's a shame that after a few hours, she's successfully given herself alternate reasons for as to why Naomi could possibly be looking her way.

_Next time. _She thinks; the next time Naomi looks at her in a way that makes her heart leap to her throat – she'll tell her, explain to her the way she's been feeling. She won't need words to explain _those_ feelings, though.

* * *

Sitting side by side, the girls are carefully opening up a few fresh coconuts, courtesy of all sharp objects being put into luggage rather than hand held bags on the plane and their one particular flyer having a sense of adventure (they never admit he's most likely deceased, Emily's rule).

"I don't get it Ems, who goes to a place like Fiji with camping gear?" Emily still feels her entire body smile whenever Naomi uses her shortened name with that familiar affectionate tone.

"You could camp on beaches and stuff, kind of what we're doing." An opportunity comes her way and the redhead begins to execute it perfectly; tilts her head towards the blonde and looks at her in an innocent way.

"What have you got against camping?" She watches as Naomi's face scrunches up delicately, expressing her disdain, just as predicted.

"You mean you're not enjoying your stay here with me?" This time, Emily notices the way blue eyes smile to themselves before Naomi begins her sarcastic reply.

"Weathers shit, company's even worse." They both smile at Naomi's naturally cryptic answer; separately and without looking at one other yet knowing they're both mimicking one other.

"You look at our sky an awful lot don't you?"

"_Our_ sky? Since when did the sky belong to us?"

"Well I figured that if we're the only ones around to see this particular part of the sky, then it's our sky." The blonde looks positively smug after giving her answer.

Emily smiles broadly and nods, to Naomi it's because of her smart arse answer, but really – referring to anything as theirs combined automatically makes Emily's little heart implode.

They both look back down in concentration, only the waves and a gentle breeze being heard. That is until Emily tries to steal a glance at the girl next to her, only to find Naomi doing the same; all sound is replaced by the thumping of her heart. The eye contact is minimal; she can't continue looking at the piercing blue for too long, it aches in all the right places. Once again, she drops her eyes to the ground and blushes furiously until she knows Naomi's not looking at her anymore, which means she's free to slyly gaze once again.

She simply can't help herself, just watches and archives every expression Naomi is capable of, every little habit and each tan line on the girl's skin. Sometimes, Emily thinks that she knows too much, and can predict Naomi's every move but she doesn't feel bad for being able to read her like a book, expose her like this – they've been around one other non-stop for weeks now. _It's only natural_. Somehow, that thought doesn't remedy the feeling of hopelessness at the situation; she's so smitten that it burns. But she can't help herself.

Her attention is suddenly diverting from the gentle curls of blonde locks to the proximity of Naomi's hand and the knife in the other.

"Jesus, move your hand, you're about to slice it open." Naomi cocks her head to the side to see where her hand is on the coconut and what Emily is talking about, before moving it without a word and meekly continuing.

Sometimes though, Emily just feels like her mother.

* * *

Later, they reward themselves for all the hard work with a very long and very competitive game of volleyball with Wilson. Using two branches and a rope they create a satisfactory substitute for a net. It wasn't intended to be anything serious, but an hour and a half in; they both look like they're ready to assassinate someone.

"So what if I'm taller? You've been to like, boot camp or something for fucks sake." Naomi picks the ball up and shoots Emily a look to make her stop whining over the height difference.

"But you're almost twice the size of me, Christ, no wonder you chose to play volleyball." Naomi knows the redhead is only continuing to try and get a rise out of her, for entertainment purposes, so she stays quiet and vents all her frustration out on the ball.

She serves, with all her might. Though she can't believe her eyes when Emily doesn't even have to budge to receive the shot – she had already been in the right position, waiting for Naomi to make her move. She's so surprised that when Emily spikes the ball back over, it hits her on the head and she loses her footing. Typically.

It doesn't take long for Emily to come bounding over like a puppy, asking if she's alright; Naomi doesn't respond though, just blinks twice and looks up at the redhead. She watches as Emily takes a sharp breath in and those few seconds quickly turn into a heavy moment.

It's too much. Naomi looks away and lifts herself off the ground, shoves Emily lightly and smirks.

* * *

Unfortunately, their situation begins to get the better of them. They both comment on how they can't take eating the same things over and over anymore. Going to the waterfall for more fresh water becomes a chore and the girls' general mood plummets.

On occasion, even Naomi's azure eyes fail to lift Emily from whatever disagreement they've come across.

The weather seems to fit the general atmosphere, with rain flowing down their skin more often than usual and grey skies stealing the endorphins the girls receive from the sun. They tend to blame the poor weather for their shared dull moods; however,

Naomi countered that opinion once, saying that since it's their sky, _they_ tainted it.

It's raining again. Emily slowly begins swim back to land after spotting a few raindrops hit the surface of the ocean and Naomi is sitting on the sand simply gazing at the little spots of darkened sand increase in number before looking up to make sure Emily is coming back. The protectiveness Naomi built up over Emily being in the water whilst bad weather rolls in developed after a particularly vicious storm when she had to swim out and help Emily return to the beach. The redhead clung to her embrace for the rest of the day, shaken and fatigued.

Naomi stands and walks closer to the water, waits for Emily but she hears something familiar in between the sound of the wind. It takes a while to identify the noise but when she does, her face shoots up and she scans the sky to see a small aircraft in the distance. Adrenaline shoots through her body and she's never felt so relieved in her life, waves her arms in the air like crazy in response.

Emily panics for a second, in case she's in danger in the water or something before realising what exactly Naomi is waving at. And she swims, so fast and hard that it feels like her heart is pumping battery acid by the time her feet hit sand.

Eventually, the two girls both bend over and pant; trying to take in all the air they lost jumping up and down attempting to signal the plane.

"They didn't see us, did they?" Naomi remarks, bitterly and out of breath.

Emily just tilts her head up and glances at the aircraft, now slowly disappearing into the murky clouds. _No, they didn't._

"I don't know." But it's no use, almost as though Naomi didn't hear what was said – simply read what Emily really thought.

Naomi kicks the ground until there's a little ditch in the shape of frustration in front of her, wiping away an angry tear rolling down her cheek even though her face is being smothered in rain.

Emily watches, letting her tears flow down her skin without an attempt of swiping or hiding them away. She mourns over the glimmer of hope that lasted mere minutes before it was snatched away again. Then she glances at the blonde and crumbles all over again.

"I can't do this anymore Emily! I can't live on this fucking _island_." The words would represent anger if they didn't sound so broken.

Naomi takes a painful breath in and shakes her head.

"Just look at us, pretending that it's all okay—pretending that we'll be rescued."

Emily doesn't know whether it's to shut Naomi up, so she can continue to try and believe in those things, try to retain the shredded hope she's kept up over these past months. Or maybe because she's just _angry_ and she's never expressed the emotion fully the entire time she's been here but she slaps Naomi, hard.

Feeling the waves of pain reach her palm, they sting the skin ferociously. Yet she revels in the feeling.

Emily does know, however, that the shocked, angry and desperate look in Naomi's big blue eyes is the motive for bringing that very hand up and around the other girl's neck. She pulls down forcefully, without stopping even after she can feel Naomi's lips against hers – it's hard, it's rough and it's nothing she had ever dreamt up but it's _right_ for the amount of emotion around them.

They stay like that for a few seconds, the drumming of both hearts becoming louder than the rain beating around them feverishly.

Emily searches for a response when she stands on her tip toes unsteadily in the sand to add force to the kiss. And she receives one when Naomi releases a guttural, involuntary moan whilst wrapping an arm around the petite girl's waist. This confirmation from Naomi sends an intense flush of adrenaline through Emily's body which ends in her lower abdomen, causing her to arch forward and entwine her fingers in Naomi's wet hair.

_Why did I wait so long? _It's the last fleeting thought that goes through Emily's mind as she flickers her tongue against Naomi's lips. She takes a sharp breath in when Naomi steps forward, placing a leg in between Emily's thighs; bringing them impossibly closer. Emily's free hand smoothly slides up Naomi's back before she sinks her nails deep into the hot skin, an action full of built up tension and desire that is met by Naomi's earnest tongue slipping against Emily's, causing them both to groan into the kiss together.

Eventually, lungs burn from lack of oxygen and the two part; resting forehead to forehead with their eyes shut. Naomi bites her lip and Emily sighs, legs intertwined and hands clutching at one other, they open their eyes. The spark is almost visible between them; the lightening in the background easily inadequate in comparison.

It doesn't take long for the two to lose themselves in a fervent kiss once more, regardless of the harsh wind nipping at their skin; lips are bitten, moans are exchanged and mutual desire is expressed.

* * *

**Anticipate, dear readers.**


	10. Sunrise

**Okay, so I've been too cruel with that anticipation. Unfortunately for you, I've had a lot on my plate recently and will have even more throughout the next few months; exams and preparing to move isn't too writing-friendly, who'd have thought it.**

**However, I've not forgotten this story – I still develop it in my mind almost every day and I also recently watched Cast Away for the first time in years.**

**This chapter is dedicated to E-bibi, who urged me to update more and more just so she could receive the mention; charming, no?**

**So I've sat down and typed away, and damn it feels good to describe two pretty girls together on a beach after writing dozens of papers on tedious subjects every day.**

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Naomi doesn't remember the last time she has ever been this frustrated, in every sense of the word. Her skin burns, from anger and arousal simultaneously. She can feel the stinging trail of scratches Emily is leaving on the curve of her back and it only spurs her on. Biting on the redheads lip to return the pleasurable feeling of pain, it would be a lie to say that this isn't a positive exertion of the stress that has built up inside.

She didn't expect Emily to moan as a response, maybe whimper and scratch harder but not to shudder involuntarily and voice her lust in that raspy sex soaked groan. It's exactly why she's so stunned; it's an odd new feeling – to be so wanted, to gain this control over someone to this extent. So much so that her knees go weak: _what a cliché_ and she's surprised her mind is even functional at this point, let alone witty.

Naomi doesn't know how long she's been exchanging open mouthed desires with Emily, it feels too good to keep track and for the first time in a long time; Naomi _feels_.

The last few days may be considered to be the worst yet. There have been fights, dangerously high levels of hopelessness and above all, the feeling of being numb. Certainly a defence mechanism to cope for Naomi, to go on autopilot, the laissez faire approach – let it be, leave it alone, _I don't care anymore_. She's said the last one far too often for even her own liking, let alone Emily's.

But now, clutching to the girl that slapped her only moments ago, gripping onto her with too much desperation, too much vulnerability, she feels so much. It's a weight off her shoulders; she can feel it floating up into the angry sky. It's odd, when she feels this much; it's when she's at her lightest, most free. Being numb, ironically enough became a dead weight.

So she bites, does so until she can taste the blood being drawn up by her sucking. Emily is trembling; the weather would be a reasonable excuse for this if the redhead weren't radiating enough heat to spontaneously combust. It'd be ridiculous not to admit she too, is ready to explode. _Christ_. The amount of adrenaline pumping through her veins right now, all pooling in her lower abdomen and creating such a high that would most likely be enough to make her come with the slightest of sexually charged touches on her body.

Emily slowly slips her tongue out of Naomi's mouth, flicking at the blonde's lips along the way. Naomi loses control then, her eyes roll back regardless of the fact that they're shut, her legs buckle violently and she slides her hands down off Emily's hair and cheek, resting them on her hips. Somewhere along the way, she thinks she gruffly whispered a low "fuck". It explains the look on Emily's face when Naomi finally opens her eyes. Dark, knowing and _burning_.

She's sure her heart stops, watching the beads of rainwater trickle down the elegant features of the shorter girl. Her red hair is plastered onto tanned albeit still fair skin, stuck to her neck and god, it's the very definition of inviting—tempting. Naomi can't help but clench her thighs together once she's taken the sight of Emily in, however, as soon as she does so, that neck tempts her to the point of lunging in and smothering the smooth skin with open mouthed kisses. The blonde can feel the vibrations emanating from Emily's throat when she moans in response, exquisite husky sounds of pleasure.

Eventually, the wind becomes too much and Naomi has to pull back unwillingly. They don't look at each other this time; they can't if they ever want to move out of the unfortunately timed tropical storm.

A grin plastering both their faces, they run with new found energy. The rain is slapping their bodies since they're going against the direction of the wind and Naomi's pretty sure that Emily is more or less likely to fly away because of how tiny she is. They finally reach their little shelter, hidden away amongst a few palm trees to protect them from the likes of this very weather. Emily ushers the blonde inside and shuts the make-shift door after herself, only then does she realise just how freezing her skin has become.

Naomi's hands busy themselves, looking for some dry clothes to change into quickly before either of them become dangerously cold but her mind is elsewhere – she continues to look and shuffle the items regardless of whether she finds anything or not. It doesn't take long for Emily to notice, wrapping her hands over Naomi's, urging her to look up.

"Relax."

Naomi feels herself melt, she then notices significantly how much she trusts Emily's words and she calms. Looking into Emily's warm brown eyes she leans in and kisses the redhead so softly that it's almost fatal because of what it contains. They stay like that for a bit, the contact between lips keeping them warm enough to survive for now.

Emily traces her fingertips down the blonde's cheek before parting and offering the faintest of smirks, then nodding towards the dry clothing. She leans across Naomi to reach for a top, brushing their bodies against one other ever so gently and certainly purposefully. As she moves back onto her knees in front of a flustered looking blue-eyed girl, Emily puts the material to the side and reaches her hands to the edge of Naomi's soaked and oversized t-shirt, staring at her – she notices a tension in azure eyes before they swiftly become comfortable again. Slowly peeling the garment off of her, Emily can't help but gaze over her rising and falling chest then down at the girls stomach; all glistening in the dimming light from outside. When her eyes finally drag themselves back up to look at Naomi's face, there's a knowing but sheepish smile present and Emily can't resist throwing the dry top at that smug face.

* * *

They don't speak. After they both changed completely and attempted to dry off their hair with a towel from the suitcase, the girls simply lay down on their somewhat comfy mattress (made out of leaves, coconut "fluff" as Naomi likes to call it and even roses at Emily's request).

The wind continues to blow around them, drafts continuously seeping in and sending shivers down both of them, so silently and comfortably they move towards one other, Naomi spooning from behind as always. She'd always describe Emily as a ball of heat, her "central heating system", now she understands why she's always so hot when she wraps her arms around her during this type of weather and sometimes, during the calm skies at night. It's the passion, redhead by hair; red by nature (the roots that are starting to show are irrelevant, because slowly, they're both losing their artificial hair colour). Funnily enough, their natural hair colours are remarkably similar under all the dye.

Naomi can't help but breathe her in, as she always does – except this time she releases a quiet moan and widens her eyes in surprise at what she's just done. The hot flush of embarrassment spreads its way through to her cheeks and she shuts her eyes tightly in hope to either turn back time or pretend it didn't happen. She expects a comment, teasing her, but Emily delicately snakes her arm down and takes hold of Naomi's hand, bringing them both up to herself and under her chin; against her chest.

Maybe to make the blonde relax once more, maybe to explain to her that her heart is also racing, but either way Naomi releases a breath she's been holding and sighs against the top of Emily's head. The height difference is ever so clear when they lie like this and that's why Naomi always tucks the redhead into herself in a protective manner. It's simply how it is.

It's surprisingly comfortable, considering the amount of lust they shared on the beach in what seems like only seconds ago. Naomi tucks one leg in between the shorter ones beside her, in a completely affectionate and gentle way, yet it crackles an adrenaline shot through both bodies; Emily bites her lip and Naomi's lungs stop working temporarily.

Eventually, they drift off to the familiar sound of palm leaves whistling in the wind and crashes of the waves.

* * *

Naomi stirs slightly in her drowsy state before opening her eyes and gazing at the streams of golden light pouring through their small shack. By this point, she can tell the difference in the colour of the sunlight and right about now, _sunrise_. Usually, if she's awake in time, she creeps out and sits on the beach – watching the sun slowly begin to make it's way up past the horizon, the sight manages to render her mesmerized each and every time.

Yet, this morning she doesn't have it in her to untangle herself from Emily's arms and legs. Instead, she lifts her upper body and leans her head on the crook of her elbow, generously staring at every little detail of Emily, who has her head facing away from her. She constantly returns her gaze to the small area of sun-kissed skin on show on Emily's hip. Just like her neck the day before, it looks so inviting – almost begging to be explored. Naomi's hand absentmindedly reaches to trace meaningless invisible shapes over the skin, she stops only centimetres away before realising that it's okay to touch now.

Slowly but surely, Emily regains consciousness to the tingling feeling of fingertips and light swoops of nails skating delicately over her stomach. It sets fire to her entire body, she sucks in her lips along with a breath and continues to pretend she's asleep; it feels too good to know that Naomi is willingly discovering her so gently. After a while of feeling as though she's drowning sensual silk, she opens her eyes and slowly turns her head to look at Naomi. The girl with loose, wavy curls of blonde hair draping her face simply smiles and her eyes are lit by a strip of sun seeping through a particular crack in the wood.

It's the most breath-taking thing Emily's ever seen.


	11. Crazy

**Christ, bet you didn't expect me to return did you? Well, I've finally moved and all my boxes full of shit remain unpacked. Not to mention I've been suffering from some serious writers block, which seems to be all the time – but hey, for all you lot that are still reading; here's an update. I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer.**

**PS. It's my birthday today, so it's a little update for now.**

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Willingly ignored; the passion, the chemistry and most certainly the kisses. Maybe it's because things were going okay for them as they were, or because they have more important things to worry about than _feelings_. Either way, they're back to their old routine with the addition of a layer of tension, hindering any comfortable silences.

As much as they avoid feelings in order to keep themselves alive – more emotions and unnecessary touches occur. More time is spent fixing up the shelter together than splitting apart to look for food and they're both getting hungry.

It's beginning to get colder each day; freezing at night. It's been months, and they both know they're reaching a winter of some sort. To top it off, the suitcase they found about two months ago is completely drained of resources – only towels, clothes and containers remain. The loss of the tiniest amount of toiletries is enough for Naomi to crack.

They'd discussed it before as a joke, wondering which one of them would go crazy first. Hell, they'd even place bets in the form of coconuts on it but it'd always be Emily that they would decide on. _"As soon as your hair loses that artificial colour, you'll pull it all out or something." _The possibility was funny at the time.

Naomi is sitting on the beach, motionless. This has become a regular occurrence for her, staring out at the sea with nothing in her eyes, no admiration and no hope. It never goes unnoticed by Emily, who begins running up to join her.

"Hey, I cut you up some mango," She sounds out of breath, but doesn't try to make it sound like she simply walked up: trivial embarrassments and problems are non-existent by this point.

She doesn't even hand the mango pieces to Naomi; just holds them up to her mouth to make sure she eats. Once the mango is gone, the silence goes from comfortable to torturous.

"Speak to me."

"Nothing to say, Ems."

"Please?"

Naomi turns then, she can never resist giving in to Emily when she sounds like that, when she looks at her like that. Naomi thinks she's well aware of how much smaller she looks when huddled up like this, either way Naomi takes on her protective role, reaching out to wrap her hands around Emily's and shuffles her closer.

After watching the wind carry stray grains of sand around them for a while, Emily looks back up at Naomi for a second before placing a gentle kiss on her neck.

Naomi's eyes begin to water and she stops trying to hold it all back, her face drops for a second before looking down at Emily and presenting a near invisible smile. The redhead catches it though, the way Naomi's eyes crinkle just a touch even if her lips don't move.

* * *

"Tell me the story with Cook and the pub,"

The girls are walking side by side through a patch of dense trees, slapping away insects and keeping skin to skin contact at all times, usually by brushing their arms against one other. It's almost an unspoken rule, to know at all times that the other is still by their side – for safety purposes. But mainly because it continues to fuel whatever feelings they have for one other in the most subtle of ways.

Naomi pulls one of her many faces and turns to look at Emily whilst holding a tree branch back for her.

"But I've told you it before, at least twice."

Shrugging, Emily picks a twig off of Naomi's torn shirt whilst whispering a thank you.

"I like to imagine it, plus your face lights up whenever you relive it." Raising her eyebrows, she shoots Naomi an expectant look.

Naomi's face brightens instantly, though she still rolls her eyes; not to cover her smile up (she knows well enough that she can't fool Emily) but because it makes Emily smirk.

So the taller girl begins to imitate Cook, a friend of hers that Emily has come to know quite well simply through the tales Naomi has regaled her with. It makes the both of them laugh, the way Naomi attempts to speak in his accent and channel his body language but more importantly; it makes them feel and imagine home.

* * *

The sun begins to set and paint a deep pink across the sky, so the girls become more careful walking back from the waterfall which heedfully means holding onto one other. It's still quite light, but both girls found it a legitimate excuse to quite obviously grope one other without actually admitting to it.

Several leaves to the face later, Naomi puts her hands on her hips and begins stretching elaborately after dropping her container of water by the shelter. But Emily knows better than to look, so she simply brushes by her without glancing in her direction and smirks.

The lack of attention simmers Naomi in an arousing manner, so she bites her lip and digs her feet into the warm sand whilst thinking of ways to wind Emily up tighter than humanely possible.

The seemingly ignorant redhead has gotten used to Naomi's attention seeking behaviour, welcomes it in fact. She knows that if Naomi doesn't have this little game of frustration to play, she'll run out of reasons to get up off the comfort of the beach each day. But Emily can't deny herself the thrill of having her undivided attention sought after either, it's a guilty pleasure. So she glances back at Naomi whilst raising her eyebrow in a dismissive manner and continues to take part in the only activity keeping them relatively sane; driving each other crazy.

* * *

One morning when Emily abruptly wakes up far too early for her own good, she recites her favourite poems in her mind; it keeps her going, refreshes her memory of civilization and somehow leads her thoughts onto a devious idea. Looking over at Naomi, she shuffles herself up to make sure that when the blonde opens her eyes, she'll be presented with a marvellous view of her chest – with the help of a few missing buttons on her shirt. So she adjusts herself and grins whilst wiping away grains of sand from her hands and lets herself fall back asleep for the natural and innocent look.

Moments later, Naomi stirs until she squints her eyes open. It doesn't take long for her to grab a fistful of sand and squeeze the grains through her fingers in a desperate attempt to release some frustration.

It's then that Emily's awoken by Naomi's heavy sigh and turns to look at her, smiling cheerfully and completely aware of what she's done. But the blonde simply forces a smile back and grits her teeth whilst constantly fighting the urge to stare at Emily's breasts.

After a short period of silence, Naomi begins playing with a bit of a leaf and starts to get up to go to the beach but a sudden tight hand on her wrist stops her getting any further. Emily yanks on Naomi's arm and has her fall back over her hips, without missing the smile on the blonde's lips.

Leaning in slowly, she whispers in Naomi's ear.

"Where do you think you're going?"


	12. Agile

**Hello darlings, I had such a blast writing this that I won't even bother with a note, just go on and read. Enjoy. Review, advise, criticize, do as you please.**

**Oh and uh, this chapter isn't for reading in public. Just saying.**

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* * *

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Naomi sits on Emily's hips, silently and intensely, staring into her eyes – it wouldn't be as powerful if it wasn't such an open look, full of desires and undisclosed feelings. Emily can literally feel her pupils dilate as the blood from her entire body pools in her stomach and in between her legs, the wave of adrenaline forces her to reach up and just about barely skate her fingernail across Naomi's neck.

As gentle and seemingly chaste the action is, Naomi whimpers and tilts her head to the side to let Emily continue freely, grazing her nails up to her jaw and settling over Naomi's flushed cheek.

Naomi's eyes flutter and close, mutely accepting whatever it is that's happening or about to happen and Emily feels the unspoken connection resonate through her body.

She slides her hand down to Naomi's chin and pulls it towards her until they're close enough to feel one others increasingly ragged breathing. Naomi opens her eyes then and it's so charged with _everything_ that Emily's body goes weak.

Seizing the opportunity for control, Naomi moves her body closer just mere millimetres away from Emily's lips and slides her hand up Emily's torso – deliciously slowly and settles it on her shoulder, beginning to push her down onto her back.

Naomi moves with her, keeping the proximity between their lips constant, until they're completely horizontal and Emily feels as if she's in a trance, looking into Naomi's eyes; she wants to say something but she's forgotten how to speak.

Instead, she lifts her hands up and glides them over Naomi's bare arms, finally wrapping them on the back of her neck and just leaves them there, she doesn't pull her closer. She waits for the moment to break and explode on its own.

It does.

Naomi's thighs tighten around Emily's hips and she pushes her entire body on top of Emily, connecting their lips last. They stay motionless like that for a second, taking it all in, melting into one other and absorbing everything – the textures they feel of their clothes, the sand by their feet, the smooth hot skin, the smell of the sea and the sound of each others quickening breaths.

Emily wraps her fingers in Naomi's hair and tugs lightly, urging for a change of pace which Naomi fulfils when she opens her mouth and slides her tongue in between Emily's slightly parted lips. It makes her moan, which then triggers Naomi to release a strangled sound and lift her hips only to push them back down with more force.

The sounds of the waves disappear to be replaced with heavy breathing, gasps and their increasingly rapid heartbeats.

Emily smooths her fingertips down Naomi's spine, pushing her top as far as she can before urgently pulling on the hem, the action increases urgency, the kiss is deepened and Naomi begins sitting up slowly, bringing up Emily with her until they're in the position they were moments ago, except now Emily is tugging and pulling Naomi's top off so quickly and desperately that it just rips and slips off Naomi's body.

After a frantic moment of undressing one other in a blur of lips, teeth and greedy hands, Emily kicks off the last piece of clothing between the two of them and Naomi retains her position on top horizontally, splaying her fingers out onto Emily's bare stomach as if she needs to touch as much of her as possible at one given time.

"Oh _God,_" Emily exhales shakily; it's all she can do when Naomi is sucking, biting and devouring her neck like this. There's so much skin, their bodies glazed in sweat and sliding against one other so sensually that she can feel every one of Naomi's curves glide against her, it's so much to experience after so long that she involuntarily rolls her eyes back and bites down on her lip in anticipation.

She needs to _do_ something, her body is so restless that it doesn't take much to grab both of Naomi's wrists and flip them over with ease. It surprises Naomi, lying on her back and out of breath, hands still intact on Emily's hips and stomach.

"I didn't realise you were this…agile," Naomi is still open eyed and shocked at the sudden loss of control, Emily would have found it amusing if she wasn't naked and panting underneath her.

She just leans in to purr "You have no idea," into Naomi's ear as a response; directly feeling the shudder the words send throughout Naomi's body, leaning back up to stare into her eyes – she can't help but look smug and wait for Naomi to kiss the smirk off her face, which she does (she's thankful for how predictable the blonde is).

When Emily dominates, she does it thoroughly. That's just something Naomi's learnt over the time they've spent on the island when they've bickered over which way to go and what to do. The thought of Emily being consistently _thorough _in this position right now makes Naomi unbearably wet.

So she completely relents control; lets Emily pin her arms up above her head and look at her in a dangerously menacing way before kissing her so hard she thinks it'll bruise later.

Emily leads a path of kisses to her ear and Naomi can't do anything but brace herself for the explicit words that are bound to make her squirm.

"You don't know how _long_ I've spent thinking about eating you," Emily's sex soaked voice is enough to make Naomi tremble but with the addition of the images flooding her mind, she moans and arches herself up into Emily.

She's getting impatient and ridiculously soaked when Emily spends time licking, circling and ravishing her breasts to the point where her hips are jerking up against Emily for some, _any_ form of contact between her legs.

Naomi has no choice but to beg and she knows it's exactly what Emily wants – though she couldn't care less about pride when Emily is torturing her like this, doing _this_ to her.

She spreads her legs further and wraps them around Emily's back, feels the sweat giving her a hard time to keep them there but she locks her ankles and cranes her neck up to whisper into Emily's ear.

"God, _please_, Emily," Naomi punctuates her plea by scratching up Emily's back and she bites her lip as Emily sinks her nails into her thigh in response.

Naomi knots her hand in Emily's hair and feels the kisses and flicks of her tongue get lower and lower down her body. Emily's hands slide their way up Naomi's inner thighs and if it could get anymore agonizing, she's pretty sure she could die of a heart attack because Emily's touching her everywhere _but_ where she wants her and she can feel her grin against her stomach.

She swallows any potential begging for more and groans when Emily glides a single finger up her cunt, making her clench and tighten her hand in Emily's hair.

"God, you're so wet," Emily moans against her hip and just when she doesn't think she can handle it anymore, Emily drags the flat of her tongue up her clit so unbelievably slow that her entire body arcs up and she digs her heels into Emily's back.

Naomi forgets to breathe when she glances down and sees Emily in between her legs looking right back up her as if she's devouring her very existence, it's so intense that she can only tip her head back in response and tightly shut her eyes.

Emily's tongue begins to circle her in ways she didn't think could feel this good and before she could comprehend what's happening, Emily slips two fingers into her with such ease it's almost embarrassing how wet she is, that and how loud her moans are becoming.

"_Fuck_, Emily," Naomi can't help but notice how delicious Emily's name is when rolling off her tongue like this, she looks back down and completely loses all thought when Emily lifts her head up, licks her lips and smiles at her so deviously that she should've expected the third finger being thrust into her.

Emily's other hand is gripping her hip, in an attempt to keep her pinned to the ground and she's having such a hard time doing so that her nails are constantly having to dig into the flesh there whilst Naomi does the same to her back and it stings so good that everything picks up pace. Emily is fluttering and sliding her tongue in all the right ways whilst hitting the perfect spot with her fingers and Naomi—

"Oh, _God_, I'm so close," Her entire body is shaking and her moans have just gotten so raspy and out of breath that it's a wonder she's still conscious with the amount of oxygen she's running on. Emily doesn't let up, just works her fingers deeper and works her tongue faster, she can feel Naomi's thighs trembling around her and she knows it won't be long before she gets to watch and feel her come.

When Naomi's entire body lifts up off the ground and her head tips back exposing her neck in beautifully erotic ways, Emily knows this moment will be burned into her mind for the rest of her life. Looking on as Naomi's tensing body transforms into a shudder; she slows her fingers and places an open mouthed kiss on Naomi's cunt before slowly sliding her way up the trembling torso and sucking on her neck.

Emily doesn't even wait for Naomi to get her breath back to give her a filthy kiss that ensures to squeeze every little last moan out of the blonde. Slowly withdrawing her fingers, Emily lifts herself onto her elbows and leans away from the kiss to suck on her soaked fingers, by this point, Naomi can barely even breathe let alone moan in response so she lets out a strangled whimper and licks her lips.

Moments later, when they're lying curled up against one other and finally getting air into their lungs, Naomi shakes her head and giggles – lifting her head to look at Emily.

"I don't even—are all midgets capable of... _that_?" Emily just grins and slaps her with the back of her hand on the stomach, resulting in a wince and a buck of the hips from Naomi.

"_Easy_, I'm still, recovering," Naomi mumbles somewhat bashfully and Emily can't stop herself placing an affectionate kiss to her collar bone.

Emily may still be ridiculously turned on but she finds no trouble in drifting off to sleep around the same time as Naomi, who is dead to the world, understandably.

The echoes of the last thing Naomi had said to her put her straight into a beautifully mellow sleep; "We fit, just right."


	13. Sunset

**I'm not going to make excuses for myself, but I return to finally finish this story. I've considered writing other stories to get back into this but it never pans out – so here I am, ploughing through some kind of permanent writers block. I don't know how some authors manage to finish their long and fantastic stories, I take my hat off to you all. Thank you for the handful of you that kept kicking me up the arse every so often, I wouldn't really be continuing this if it weren't for you guys.**

* * *

The world regains colour, as if sleeping with Emily refilled some kind of vitality bar within her, it's such a cliché but everything seems brighter. It's probably the endorphins coursing through her veins she thinks, only to catch herself red handed at trying to play down any emotional reasoning for this because well, sex is never _that_ good on its own.

"Naomi?" Emily's voice jogs her out of the trance.

"That _is_ my name," She replies and continues to draw patterns into the sand.

Emily sits down beside her and wordlessly picks up a matching twig, adding her own designs to the large patch of doodled sand – silently, they sit like this for a while.

"It's so pretty," Emily remarks when they both stretch and observe the ground.

"I know, it's a shame it won't stay like this," Naomi smiles sadly whilst quickly tweaking a squiggle that the wind covers – she misses the way Emily's face fades into concern.

* * *

They decide to jump from the waterfall for the first time since it lost its novelty. Naomi convinces Emily that she can perform a perfect dive but when it comes to it, she runs full speed towards the edge and attempts to stop herself at the last second in a panic before toppling unceremoniously into the water.

Emily is kneeling on the floor holding her sides and wiping tears from her eyes as her laughter goes on for so long it becomes silent. She can hear Naomi giggling in the water but she can't bring herself to look down at her because her stomach can't take much more.

She stays on the cliff and lets the last couple laughs out until she can actually say something.

"Ten out of ten!" She starts clapping sarcastically and Naomi just shakes her head at herself in the water.

"Yea yea, come on, jump in already," There's a bite in Naomi's tone and Emily loves it because it only really comes out when the blonde is embarrassed.

So she jumps. Naomi swims by a little too close and within seconds it turns into a blur of lips, teeth and excessive kicks into the water to keep afloat. Though, as Naomi wraps her arms around Emily's waist, pressing kisses into her neck, they begin to sink slightly and Emily starts dragging Naomi to land.

The faded redhead makes a mental note of the boulder they're laying on, the one where she first got her less than platonic eyeful of Naomi all that time ago. The thought quickly vapourizes when Naomi's wet hands slide up her thighs and her eyes roll back from the spontaneity.

It's a bright day, one wisp of a cloud flowing through the sky and she can feel the sun beat down on her body, the droplets of water on her skin are evaporating but they're soon replaced with sweat as Naomi hovers over her, having smoothly slipped her hands up her body, she can feel them pinning her arms up above her head. She wonders if Naomi has ever done this before because the confidence and sheer _want_ radiating off of her is fucking infinite.

"Remind me why we didn't do this before?" Naomi murmurs into Emily's ear and the redhead can't help the way her stomach clenches in response.

"I have no idea," She strains up right after groaning the words out and launches herself into a searing kiss with the blonde. After an unbearable amount of teasing with the tongue, Naomi violently spreads Emily's legs and there's no complaint coming from the shorter girl. She continues by nipping Emily's bottom lip with her teeth and it sets the pace; rough, hard and hot. Almost too hot, Emily's sure she is about to die from heatstroke but there is not a chance in hell that she's going to interrupt the way Naomi's hands are scratching up her inner thighs, promising what's to come.

So she shuts her eyes and breathes in the salt air sharply once Naomi's mouth moves to her neck—she can feel her own heart beat wildly against her ribcage, feels the pulse in her fingertips and her swollen lip. Her eyes are still tightly closed but flashes of the waves, the sunset and Naomi's eyes hit her eyelids in ways that she only experiences if she's taken hallucinogens—though she tears them back open when Naomi's hand reaches the ridiculously wet spot in her underwear.

"God, you're soaked," Naomi practically growls against the flushed skin of her shoulder, it only makes her wetter, _everything_ does—the way Naomi is grabbing at every opportunity to drive her crazy, the way her hands are now tangled in hot sandy hair and even the fucking waterfall in the background is contributing.

Naomi leans up all of a sudden with hooded eyes, spreading her swollen pink lips with her tongue—Emily doesn't stop herself from becoming fixated on the action and it makes Naomi chuckle filthily—knowing just how much Emily is gagging for it if the way she's writhing is anything to go by. Though, she just stares down at her and for a fleeting moment and it begins to drag on, Emily begins to think there's something wrong so she collects her laboured breaths and makes a face to say – _what is it?_

"I want to watch your face when I finally fuck you." Naomi breaks out into a devilish grin and emphasises her answer with a horrifically explicit kiss and Emily can only try to keep up once she's scraped her mind back out of the gutter, only for it to be thrown back down there for good once Naomi's fingers hook her underwear, sliding them down her burning thighs.

Emily only gets a few seconds to catch a minutes worth of oxygen before she braces herself and it reminds her of taking a deep breath in when preparing to go underwater. She could start to link the two experiences in her mind, almost poetically but with the way Naomi is watching her and the breeze highlighting just how wet she's become-there's _no_ room for poetry unless it's about how thoroughly she's about to be ravished.

Her eyes roll back and she makes an almost strangled cry when Naomi's fingers slide down either side of her clit, the blonde - clearly pleased by Emily's response, moans just as audibly. Emily's body tingles just that little more when she realises how much cooler Naomi's fingers are in comparison to her slick heat and just like that, the most inappropriate things run through her head, echoes of _I love you, don't stop _and_ forever_ flicker in the barrage of her thoughts.

It should make her sit up, take a moment and calm herself but all it does is make her nails dig a little deeper into Naomi's sweating back, make her arch that much further and groan a touch more desperately.

* * *

The next few days consist of kisses below the ear, filthy whispers against necks and unabashed smiles. Touches begin to become softer and more meaningful but it's welcome, the glow of intimacy paints them beautifully.

There's also an air of urgency between them, something they try to avoid thinking or talking about. They have to have one other instantly, as if something is going to take them away - this worry is over Naomi's face when they wake up and blow sand off each other, it runs through the way Emily can never get close enough to Naomi whilst they're sleeping. It's constant and it comes true.

* * *

Naomi almost forgets what the sound is; the distant roar from up above - engines making their way through their sky. Her arms go limp and she drops the bananas she was holding.

Taking a moment to breathe once she's gone dizzy from looking about the sky frantically, she can feel her heart beat, faster now that she's running towards the beach. When she gets there, she can see Emily looking insignificant and small in comparison to the entire backdrop; the horizon, the sand and an airplane god knows how high up in the sky. Emily just stands, staring at the small plane making its way closer to their island, completely motionless bar her laboured breathing and when she realises Naomi is standing staring at her, she drops her head and the tears welled in her eyes begin to make their way down her cheeks, reaching her smile.

They both wave and shout until they're sure they've been seen, cheering and dancing together; the dark cloud that has been looming over their worries swiftly evaporates. It's a feeling of long deserved weightlessness.

* * *

The plane disappeared from their line of sight quite some time ago and now they're sitting watching the sunset for what could be the last time, it all becomes oddly heart wrenching. Emily swallows the sadness in her throat and glances over at Naomi, whose line of sight is fixed on a few grains of sand.

"I'll miss this," Naomi whispers almost to herself.


	14. Found

It's been a while.

* * *

She doesn't recognise herself; standing in the mirror with a white towel accentuating just how tanned she's become over the passing months, the smooth texture of cold tiles beneath her feet is surreal, the smell of fruity shower gels in the air and the full feeling in her stomach is almost unsettling.

Much like the sudden reality check that put her into shock when she first woke up on the island, the numbness Naomi uses to cope with emotional turmoil returns. She never thought a proper meal and a shower would do so much damage to her psych but here she is, standing in the nicest hotel room she's ever seen courtesy of the airline, or was it the insurance? She'll be damned if she can remember - the swarm of people in suits and paramedics surrounding her and Emily when they finally landed in Melbourne was overwhelming.

Emily. Throughout the entirety of their time on the island, there wasn't room to miss one other, they couldn't really separate nor did they want to but now, now the deafening silence of the bathroom is tearing her apart. She quickly gets dressed but takes an extra minute or two running her fingertips down the seams of the t-shirt and trousers provided for her, marvelling at what it feels like to be wearing dry, clean and fitting clothes. Christ, she became a savage without noticing.

Slipping on some sandals, she swiftly makes her way down the hallways of the hotel careful not to bump into any ever-hungry journalists packed in the lobby waiting to jump on either of them. The plush red carpet begins to make her feel like she's not on the same planet anymore; the absence of nature, of the colour green. It doesn't take long to track down Emily's room, she damn near runs.

Two knocks and the door violently opens, small but firm hands grab the back of Naomi's neck, pulling her inside with such urgency that it makes her stomach flutter and her anxiousness temporarily dissolve into the air conditioned room.

"Thought it'd be you." Emily mutters after placing a solid kiss on the taller girls' lips. Naomi simply closes her eyes and wraps her arms around Emily's thin waist, pulling her in almost painfully tight.

They stand like this, cemented to the ground both of them with their eyes shut and knuckles turning white with how tightly they grip one other.

"I'm scared I'm going to wake up." Naomi doesn't even realise she's said this out loud and their embrace is broken swiftly by the shorter girl, placing a gentle hand on Naomi's chest.

First she slowly cracks open her left eye, following by the right and looks around suspiciously before settling her gaze on beautifully warm brown eyes. "You're not dreaming Naomi." Emily whispers and smiles crookedly.

It takes a while longer to fully convince a very suspect looking Naomi that all is well and this isn't her sadistic subconscious having a shot at torturing her within her dreams. Eventually, they lay side by side on a luxurious king sized bed staring at the TV in wonder, both of them distantly wrapped up in their own thoughts and concerns. The atmosphere has since changed between them, something they knew they couldn't avoid but with each passing minute it becomes heavier and thicker – until a news report on the TV drags them both out of their heads and into the present.

It's a news report about them.

["Following the plane crash 50km from Fiji months ago, it was thought that all survivors had been found. However, yesterday evening a group of marine biologists discovered the two British girls, Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch thought to have died upon impact."]

Naomi turned the TV off before the news article could finish – they had already been promptly informed that the plane had crashed not too far away from their island and that most of the people on the plane had been floating about, being slowly found by the rescue teams. Apparently the currents had swept everyone in the water so far away from their island that nobody assumed the plane even went down anywhere near where they had crashed. Neither of the girls being impressed by this attempt at a rescue, were overwhelmed by everything to ask any more questions.

"What now?" Emily asks as the silence in the room becomes unbearable.

The distance between them on the bed increasing as time goes by, the basis on which they had built their relationship was no more, their dynamic is changing with every second and even the way they look is different to what they're accustomed to. The foreignness envelopes them both and makes them mutually uneasy, like an unwanted presence.

"I don't know." Naomi mumbles in response and yawns, sliding down the bed and turning to spoon Emily perhaps out of reflex or seeking some sort of comfort in this alien situation, either way she's too exhausted to think about where this leaves her feelings and their relationship. "But we've got a long day tomorrow." Gladly, the redhead complies and holds onto the taller girl possibly tighter than ever before.

Odd, that, considering they've been saved.

The girls fall asleep for the first time in almost half a year without hearing the constant waves crashing onto their beach.

Though, the silence sounds a lot like an omen.


	15. Hometown Glory

**I will finish this story. I swear it to you all, no matter where I am in my life. Perhaps it's one of my lifelong quests and you guys are my companions, my support. I honestly have to say that it's your reviews that resonate through me and inspire me. Sometimes when I'm sitting thinking about what I should do with my time, I read over what you guys wrote about my story and I get a wind of motivation. It's also what has inspired me to really make a solid attempt at writing over the next few years, along with support from some of my good friends. I know some of your well wishes and words of encouragement are up to three years old but I wanted to take the time out to tell you that appreciate every single word and always will. Thank you.**

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Family reunions never have been too important to Naomi; however, getting to see her mother again after all this time makes her stomach churn from anticipation, excitement. She and Emily have been long discussing the first things they'll do when they touch down in the UK and right now she most definitely feels how Emily looks, the redhead sporting a lop-sided grin and fidgeting excitably throughout all of the commute to the airport.

Settling into their first class seats on the plane, the atmosphere takes a sudden spin. Naomi finds herself breathing a little harder, the air smells awfully artificial and Emily is wringing her hands in _that_ particular way. The blonde doesn't miss it, Emily's knuckles whiten from the tension and even though it's an entirely silent action she can hear it drilling through the core of her.

They're afraid.

Is it finally seeing their loved ones after so long? The lifestyle change? Naomi visits all the possibilities in her mind but deep down she knows fine well; it's the flight.

Just as her thoughts spiral into a seemingly endless abyss, a small firm hand wraps itself lovingly around her bicep and it feels like a light guiding her home. All she is capable of doing in that moment is praise the gods for Emily's impeccable ability to defuse stress.

She observes Emily looking out of the window though, takes note of the worry lines on her face, the pursed lips and the panic exuding from her eyes.

"Look," She begins to open her mouth without thinking, "at least if we crash again here, we'll have way more experience than anyone else – if anything, I reckon we're experts at this survival thing. I know how to crack open a mean amount of coconuts."

Emily raises her eyebrow at Naomi and doesn't blink for a while.

"I was trying to make you feel better, I'm sorry." Naomi shuts up swiftly and Emily takes a moment longer to crack a smile. Raising her hand, she cups Naomi's cheek.

"You're an idiot," They both laugh and the flight goes on without a single hitch or bump.

* * *

Naomi stands outside the pub and thinks about all the faces she saw whilst idly flicking her cigarette, tightening the jacket around herself.

It was certainly an intense moment when they walked through the double doors at the airport and into the UK; their loved ones waiting anxiously for hours, weeks, months.

There were more people than either of them could've possibly imagined, people they hadn't seen in years or even guiltily forgot about all together. It was lovely but most overwhelming. Not to mention the abundance of tearful hugs, Naomi wonders if this is what it feels like for soldiers to come home.

Her train of thought comes to a halt when Katie slips outside with an unlit cigarette in her mouth.

They move different, they look different, smell and sound different. Then again, she tilts her head and peers at Katie some more, watches her rummage through the golden handbag with pursed lips and intent to kill. Slightly taken aback with how much Katie looked like Emily just then, Naomi clears her throat and waves a box of matches in the air.

They're blanketed in the dreary golden light of the street lamps, the muffled laughter and music emanating from the pub is in full swing; Emily's family and friends dancing with Naomi's, celebrating their return.

Katie takes almost predatory steps towards Naomi, who is leaning back against the wall with her arm outstretched, offering the matches and taking a drag of her cigarette.

The other Fitch twin wordlessly takes the box, lights and inhales – looking out into the distance, watching night sky. She then turns slowly, looks at Naomi deeply for a moment before handing the box back.

"Thank you." Katie delivers the two words with such depth, her eyes glisten in a particularly familiar way and Naomi has to break eye contact in order to breathe.

They share a comfortable silence, taking relief in the peace. There is no need for small chat and they are mutually pleased with the fact that the other hasn't attempted any. Eventually they stub their cigarettes out, at the same time.

"I wouldn't have made it out there without her." It flies out of Naomi's mouth just as she is following Katie back inside and the shorter girl stops to turn back at the blonde.

"I really fucking missed her, more than anything I've ever felt before." Katie replies in an instant.

They both realise then that they're quite drunk and that this has been most out of character so they silently walk back inside and return to the pandemonium, not without sharing an appreciative glance at one other – wordlessly promising to make an effort to get to know one other at another time.

Emily watches the two of them come back inside and feels her stomach twist in an unruly manner, possibly from the tequila shots she just took with Cook, who is just as she imagined, but most likely from the idea of having to explain to Katie what happened on the island. How does one even describe what happened; waking up strapped down to the chair, being so thirsty she thought she might die, getting caught in a strong wind whilst swimming, falling for Naomi, _being_ with Naomi. Her eyes stare off onto a little puddle of alcohol on the table in front of her. What would their relationship even be over here? They didn't _need_ each other anymore, did they? Emily's facial features tangle up in a blur of drunken realisation and it takes a sharp nudge from Cook to pull her back out of it.

"You alright, Red?" He looks on carefully; one eye shut so he can see straight because by now his vision must be tripling Emily thinks, straightening out her face she nods appreciatively. Understanding what Naomi finds so appealing about him, she marvels at his unabashed grin.

Taking another clumsy sip of her cider, wondering how she could miss Naomi already, she feels fingertips skate up her spine languidly as if on cue and in a way that reminds her of the sand sticking to her face as she used to lay face down on the beach, Naomi caressing her back.

Emily waits until Naomi is sitting next to her before leaning in to her ear. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

The blonde smiles drunkenly and nods, picking up her jacket and standing up suddenly, wasting no time, Emily quickly follows and they dash outside before anyone suggests joining them.

They walk in any direction, savouring the way the cold tickles their faces. It feels good against their cheeks, flushed with alcohol and months of sun.

"Cook slipped this into my hand as we were leaving," Naomi reaches into her pocket and pulls out a well packed joint, the sweet smell wafting towards Emily, who moans in appreciation as the aroma reaches her. Naomi quickly strikes a match and takes a few massive drags that impress even Emily before passing it.

"You a massive stoner back in the real world then?" Emily inquires as she inhales.

Naomi giggles and runs her fingertips over some bricks they're leaning on before sheepishly nodding. "Perhaps."

Smirking, Emily nods, mouthing 'perhaps' silently and rolling her eyes, earning a little shove from Naomi who can seemingly always be provoked.

They both giggle in a typically school girl way and lean against the wall together, not far from the pub. Neither able to firmly plant both feet to the floor without an extra step or so.

"I can't believe how drunk we both are." Naomi mutters whilst rubbing her face and shaking her head.

"Well we've just returned from a serious rehab session, extreme, I would even label it." Emily attempts to add logically, slurring every second word with a lisp that is beginning to creep out as the drinks steadily flow through her – reminding Naomi of Katie.

As the blonde continues to gaze at Emily, she feels a pang of sadness for a reason, for a lot of reasons.

Maybe because of the alcohol, most likely because of the sudden inner turmoil; Naomi takes a big step towards the shorter girl and immediately wraps both her hands either side of Emily's face, pulling her into the first kiss they've shared since the hotel.

It's not that they didn't want to, certainly not, if the way they are moaning and clawing at each other now is anything to go by. The kisses turn rough when Emily pulls Naomi impossibly close by the waistband of her jeans and the feeling of solid concrete beneath their feet alone makes this an incredibly novel experience all on its own.

Naomi's cold hand snakes its way up under Emily's top and her fingers splay across the redheads hot back, making her gasp and look up to the night sky; feeling Naomi's hungry mouth move onto her neck, she knows she could get used to this.

Eventually they snap out of their reverie and disentangle their limbs as if remembering they're not on their own little island in the middle of the ocean.

Walking back to the pub, they attempt to straighten out their clothes and fix each other's hair. "Cook was saying something about going out after the next round of drinks?" Emily asks as she reaches the door to go in.

Naomi pauses and thinks about it, peering back down at Emily with a sly smirk.

"Perhaps."


End file.
